Hi. In Norwegian its called "svineskank". "svin" being "pork" and "skank" meaning "knockle". I know I know "skank" is something else in english but trust me on this.. Look it up.

Eisbein is a completely German word. Eis is ice in German, and Bein means leg. I thought the name had to do with the curing of the hock. It certainly isn't a Nordic word as the previous Norwegian chef pointed out.

In Swedish it's more commonly known as "fläsklägg". A theory presented to me over dinner in Berlin by a swede from Gotland was that the reference to ice had to do with the fact that ice-skates were made from that bone way back.

Eisbein makes reference to the bone that is inside the ham hock. Many years ago, the Berliners, I am one of them, made ice skates from that bone, therefore the name.

The Berliners are correct: in the old Prussian Berlin the bone was used to make ice skates - eis (ice) bein (bone). Originally had Eisbeing in East Berlin and found it to look very scary: pig hair sticking out of the fat; but once you cut away the fat covering you get the best slices of tender pork you can imagine. It is best with some authentic German senf (mustard). Prost!

In Southern Brazil Eisben is known to be of German origin and highly appreciated.

The term Islegg is old-norwegian for leg of animal, its from the language "Norrøn" so its not wrong to say the name has origin in Norway. Kind regards, a Norwegian girl ;)