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Swedish fish dish is so pungent it should be opened outdoors

BY Tom LITTLE

September 8, 2020
5:56 pm

Cans of surstromming, the Swedish delicacy of fermented Baltic herring, embossed with the face of chef Malin Soderstrom and made near to the restaurant she owns, sit on a table in the Albertina restaurant in Skarsa, a village some 200 kilometers north of Stockholm on September 4, 2020. - From her seaside restaurant in the small fishing village of Skarsa based in a former herring processing factory, Soderstrom tries to defend the reputation of Sweden's foul-smelling delicacy Surstromming -- canned herring left to ferment over months. (Photo by Tom LITTLE / AFP)

As chef Malin Soderstrom opened the can, the trapped air escaped with a hiss and filled the balcony of her waterside restaurant with the pungent odour of Sweden’s infamous delicacy, surstromming.

Likened to the smell of rotten eggs, surstromming — fermented herring — has gained a following online where daring gastronomes film themselves trying the seafood, which should be opened outdoors because of the stench, and preferably underwater in a bucket.

From her seaside restaurant in the small fishing village of Skarsa more than 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Stockholm based in a former herring processing factory, Soderstrom tries to defend the delicacy’s reputation.

The restaurant of chef Malin Soderstrom in the village of Skarsa north of Stockholm is pictured on September 4, 2020, when she invited friends to try a sample of the Swedish delicacy of surstromming, fermented herring usually eaten in the Nordic nation in late summer and which originates from the countrys north. – From her seaside restaurant in the small fishing village of Skarsa based in a former herring processing factory, Soderstrom tries to defend the reputation of Sweden’s foul-smelling delicacy Surstromming — canned herring left to ferment over months. (Photo by Tom LITTLE / AFP)

“The sourness with the saltiness together with the bread, potato and butter and onion, it’s just fantastic,” the 51-year-old said outside the restaurant, dressed in her black chef’s uniform.

Soderstrom’s grandparents lived in one of the village’s squat red-wood fishermen’s houses near the water and she ate surstromming, directly translated “sour herring”, from childhood.

Herring caught in the Baltic are salted after being caught and left to ferment for months in barrels before they are canned.

A can of fermented Baltic herring, known as surstromming in Swedish, sits on a table in the restaurant belonging to chef Malin Soderstrom who invited a group of friends to try the delicacy in her restaurant as a demonstration of how she prepares the strong-smelling dish in Skarsa, north of Stockholm, on September 4, 2020. – From her seaside restaurant in the small fishing village of Skarsa based in a former herring processing factory, Soderstrom tries to defend the reputation of Sweden’s foul-smelling delicacy Surstromming — canned herring left to ferment over months. (Photo by Tom LITTLE / AFP)

Surstromming hails from northern Sweden, where it is most commonly eaten, but tins of the seafood are available from most large supermarkets across Sweden.

In recent years a museum has been dedicated to the divisive dish, and some restaurants dedicate a whole day to eating it to avoid offending other customers’ noses.

But with customers down due to Covid-19, Soderstrom and her sister Anna called off their own surstromming day this year.

Instead they organised a small demonstration of how the dish should be enjoyed, inviting a handful of friends and colleagues to sample the culinary delight.

Opening the cans away from their tables, Soderstrom served it to the visitors on Swedish flat bread along with chopped red onions, boiled potatoes, dill, tomatoes, chives, sour cream and hard cheese.

– A ‘strong taste’ –

Taking a break from the kitchen, 25-year-old chef Joseph Netzler tried the fish for the first time, sniffing it cautiously before tasting it with hard bread, dill and potatoes.

“It smelt a lot better than I thought it would, and the taste was good. It was kind of strong, kind of umami,” he said, sitting on the restaurant’s balcony overlooking the village’s small harbour.

“I think I’ve had my fill for a while,” he said, but added he might try it again in “one or two years”.

Chef Malin Soderstrom prepares tomatoes, dill and chives as a garnish for the Swedish delicacy surstromming, which she is preparing to serve to a group of friends she invited to her restaurant in the small village of Skarsa, more than 200 kilometers north of Stockholm, on September 4, 2020. – From her seaside restaurant in the small fishing village of Skarsa based in a former herring processing factory, Soderstrom tries to defend the reputation of Sweden’s foul-smelling delicacy Surstromming — canned herring left to ferment over months. (Photo by Tom LITTLE / AFP)

Soderstrom was bemused by YouTube videos of non-Swedes opening cans of surstromming indoors and trying to eat it whole with no accompaniments, often struggling to stomach the smell.

In one such video, a group of friends in the US opened the can at a table indoors, retching and choking before eventually trying the fish.

“The smell, you can’t get over it, but the taste is just slimy,” one of the challengers said with a grimace after nibbling a piece of the herring with no accompaniments.

“Of course they think it’s disgusting,” Soderstrom said with a smile. “I would think that as well if I had it the same way.”

“The whole meal is really important. Who you’re eating with, where you’re eating and how you’re eating it. I want to keep that alive,” she said.