Do Swedes really eat surströmming?
Surströmming (fermented Baltic herring or, literally, soured Baltic herring), is one of Sweden’s most infamous products and is especially popular in northern Sweden. Surströmming are normally eaten at the end of August, but I’ve met Swedes who like to bury a can outside in snow and eat some at Christmas!
Can you get sick from eating surströmming?
Although the smell can make one sick, surströmming is safe to eat. The smell is not a result of rotten fish, but rather the fermentation of the fish. What is this? There are numerous benefits associated with fermented foods and mainly fermented fish.
Why is surströmming so stinky?
Surströmming (say “soor-stroh-ming”) is tinned fish from Sweden that is fermented (put in a salty brine for two months) before the tins are sealed up and sold. The process of fermenting the fish creates a strong rotten egg smell.
What is surströmming eaten with?
The most common way to consume surströmming is with tunnbröd (thin bread) which is a soft or crisp very thin bread commonly baked in the north of Sweden. The bread is consumed in Sweden all year. Usually, a sandwich is made with surströmming, butter, potatoes, sour cream and diced onion.
Is surströmming illegal?
Surstromming is a traditional dish from northern Sweden. The Baltic herring is fermented in barrels for months before being put in tin cans, where the fermentation process continues. Several major airlines have banned the fish, arguing they are pressurised goods and must be classified as potentially explosive.
How do you eat fish surströmming?
How to eat surströmming like a local: As the tin is pressurised, open the surströmming in a basin of water. Wash it, gut it, and wrap it in buttered tunnbröd, a type of sweetened flat bread, with slices of almond potatoes and diced onion. Accompany with beer, snaps and lots of friends.
Does surströmming have to be refrigerated?
Surströmming should always be refrigerated even when unopened – and must only be opened outdoors. You have been warned.
Does surströmming taste like anchovies?
It tastes like salty anchovies with a bit more punch. 3. Other than a few hardcore fans, people generally don’t eat the fish alonelike you would e.g with pickled herring (the other Swedish herring staple).
How should surströmming be eaten?
Can you take surströmming on a plane?
Four airlines – British Airways, Finnair, Air France and KLM – have banned passengers from carrying the cans on the plane, Aftonbladet reports. The airlines then requested airport authorities to ban sales of the delicacy. He said that it is a myth that surströmming cans can explode, as the pressure is not high enough.
Is surströmming a delicacy?
Surströmming is an infamous Swedish delicacy made of fermented Baltic sea herring.
Can you bring surströmming on a plane?
A tin of surströmming undoubtedly makes for a novel souvenir, but before you start filling your suitcases with the stuff be warned; several airlines, including BA, have banned it on the grounds that the pressurised tins could explode on board.
How long has surstromming been part of Swedish cuisine?
Surströmming has been part of northern Swedish cuisine since at least the 16th century. Fermented fish is an old staple in European cuisines. The oldest archeological findings of fish fermentation are 9,200 years old and from the south of today’s Sweden.
What kind of fish is Swedish surstromming made of?
Surströmming is an infamous Swedish delicacy made of fermented Baltic sea herring. In spring, the spawning fish are caught between Sweden and Finland, then the heads are removed and the bodies are stored in a series of salted water solutions.
When do Swedes go to the surstromming party?
From the third Thursday of August through to September, many Swedes take part in surströmmingsskiva (surströmming party or fermented herring parties) — a festival period that harkens back to the old ways of Scandinavians. During this time, they revel in eating the modern-day equivalent of that ancient fermented fish, surströmming.
Why was surstromming banned from sale in Sweden?
At the end of the 1940s, surströmming producers in Sweden lobbied for a royal ordinance (Swedish: förordning) that would prevent incompletely fermented fish from being sold. The decree that was issued forbade sales of the current year’s production in Sweden prior to the third Thursday in August.