Surströmming (sour herring) is fermented Baltic herring — salted in barrels, left to ferment for 6 months, then tinned. The fermentation produces hydrogen sulphide, propionic acid, and butyric acid — compounds that give surströmming its legendary smell, often compared to rotten eggs, sewage, and death simultaneously. The tin bulges from the gas pressure. It must be opened outdoors (and some Swedish apartment buildings ban indoor opening). Despite the smell, surströmming is a genuine delicacy to its devotees: the flesh, once past the initial olfactory assault, is salty, tangy, umami-rich, and complex. It is eaten on tunnbröd (thin flatbread) with potatoes, onion, and sour cream, traditionally at a surströmmingsfest (fermented herring party) in late August.
- **Open the tin underwater.** Submerge the bulging tin in a basin of water, then pierce. The water contains the spray and reduces the initial olfactory impact. Opening it dry, indoors, may cause evacuation of the building. - **The smell and the taste are different experiences.** The volatile sulphur compounds that produce the smell are not the same compounds that produce the flavour. Many people who recoil from the smell discover that the taste is far milder and more pleasant than the nose predicted. - **It is a genuine tradition, not a stunt.** Surströmming has been produced in northern Sweden since the 16th century. It is a preservation technique for Baltic herring — the low salt content (compared to full salt-curing) allowed poorer fishermen to preserve their catch using less of the expensive salt.
PAKISTANI + BRAZILIAN + PERUVIAN + SCANDINAVIAN DEEP