Just had Surströmming yesterday – here is my experience (and what experience it was!)
For the uninitiated, Surströmming is an infamous heavily fermented herring.
Below is my experience with it. Happy to answer any questions :)
Preparations
I “smuggled” (more on this below) it from Sweden a few months ago and yesterday evening my brother, a brave (or naïve) soul of a schoolmate of his, and I (not to mention our dog) opened it up near the river. We chose the riverside and the night time strategically, of course.
As was advised to us by a friend, we also took a bucket of water with us. Not – as some may wrongly assume – to vomit into, but to open the tin under water. Due to the fermentation continuing in the tin, it builds up pressure and when you open the tin, it inevitably and violently discharges the bile water. The best way to avoid it spraying your clothes is to open it under water.
The tasting
Since this was an impromptu action, – other than the bucket – we came only half-prepared. As condiments we brought only a little bread, a shallot and three pickled gherkins.
The hint with the bucket was greatly appreciated, as the opening of the tin was the most vile part of the whole experience. So if you plan to try it, do get a bucket! It stopped not only the bile spraying us, but also diluted most of the putrid smell that was caught in the tin.
Once opened and aired, the contents of the tin were actually quite recognisable. Fish fillets swimming in brine. The brine was already brownish and a tiny bit gelatinous, but darkness helped us get past that.
As for the taste and texture, if you ever had pickled herrings before – it’s like that on steroids, married with anchovies. Very soft, but still recognisable as fish, extremely salty, and with acidity that is very similar to that of good sauerkraut.
Washing the fish in the pickle jar helped take the edge of – both in sense of smell and saltiness. The onion as well as the pickles were a great idea, bread was a must!
In summary, it is definitely an acquired taste, but I can very much see how this was a staple in the past and how it can still be used in cuisine. As a condiment, I think it could work well even in a modern dish.
We did go grab a beer afterwards to wash it down though.
P.S. Our dog was very enthusiastic about it the whole time and somewhat sullen that he didn’t get any.
The smuggling
Well, I didn’t actually smuggle it, per se, but it took me ¾ of an hour to get it cleared at the airport and in the end the actual carrier still didn’t know about what I was carrying in my checked luggage. The airport, security, two information desks and the main ground stewardess responsible for my flight were all in on it though. And in my defence, the actual carrier does not have a policy against Surströmming on board (most probably because they haven’t thought about it yet).
As for acquiring this rotten fish in the first place, I saw it in a shop in Malmö and took the least deformed tin (along with other local specialities). When I came to the cash register with grin like a madman in a sweetshop, I asked the friendly young clerk if she has any suggestion how to prepare it, and she replied that she never had it and knows barely anyone of her generation who did, apart from perhaps as a challenge.
A very fitting post on the national day of Sweden! Haha.
Definitely a good idea to eat it with bread and onions. I've seen some videos of people trying it for the first time, and just putting a whole fillet into their mouth, with nothing to go with it. Which seems absolutely awful.
The traditional way of doing it is on a piece of flatbread, with potatoes, sourcream and onions. So you were pretty close! I still wouldn't call it tasty, but it's certainly better that way than on it's own, lol.
One of my bosses really loves it, and insists on having it at this work party once a year. They open the tin right there in the office! Would not recommend. Outdoors is the way to go!
Haha, the timing was completely accidental, but I’m happy it hit the nail on the head :D
Well, we did research on what to have with it and first decided to bring some potato salad, but then decided not to just in case it is really as awful as some say, so we don’t associate the awfulness with potato salad. Mind is a finicky thing.
The first try was actually taking a huge chunk of the fillet on the fork and straight into the mouth with bread in the other hand and the rest close at hand.
Also, happy Sveriges nationaldag! \o/
Its like when some folks try Vegemite for the first time and slather it on thick. Its a shame that there isn't some better instructions for more regional products like this.
Opening a tin of this indoors should be illegal.
That's one of the reasons I hate those "React" videos about regional food. E.g.
"US Teens try Australian food!"
Cue dry, cold toast with 2cm thick Vegemite slathered all over it
"OMG THIS IS SO GROSS, HOW CAN ANYONE EAT THIS!?"
Well no shit they thought it was gross, that's not how anyone eats Vegemite (well some freaks might but not the majority of people).
Whereas: fresh, hot, thick toast + nice layer of unsalted butter + very thin smear of Vegemite = Delicious
Sounds good! Surströmming is definitely on my list of things I want to eat someday. I like natto, find insects delicious and confused Icelandic waiting staff by asking for more hákarl, I've yet to find an infamously 'awful' food I didn't enjoy.
I can’t say I liked natto, but it’s OK. I guess it’s slightly similar to marmite/vegemite, which I also tolerate, but not really crave.
Fried crickets are the bomb! :D
I haven’t had hákarl yet, but if I ever go to Iceland, I’ll try to procure some as well.
Regarding other icky yucky food, I love good bloodwurst (can be awful, if done awful though) and quite like bone marrow. I also tolerate tripe, but am not a huge fan. Extrapolating from that I would expect to not like lungs and udders.
Never really occurred to me that blood sausage might be yucky (in the UK 'black pudding' is in every supermarket) but I guess if you didn't grow up with the stuff it's fairly horrific!
Lungs feature in traditional Scottish haggis and are very tasty in that but I'm not sure I'd want to eat them on their own. I feel the same as you about tripe - sometimes a bit is OK but mostly it's a snack for my dogs.
Yeah, blood sausage is a staple where I’m from as well. But I can see how some might not like it. To be honest, I dislike the Korean version of it as well.
What I also find funny is how people scoff as stuff like this, but don’t find it odd how cheese, bread and beer came about.
wtf
Yeah, they’re a thing in Asia and … well … I guess pretty much everywhere outside of Europe and North America.
I got infected with during “survival training” in our scout group, where we hunted the lil’ buggers in the meadows and fried them fresh. (Pro tip: they taste better if you pull their head of first, as it removes the intestines as well. Bonus: they still jump while headless for a while.)
I first had fried crickets on Mexican food (in the UK), but have since seen them in Japan too. I wish I had a good place to get them where I live because they're so tasty.
If they're anything like Mexican chapulines (stir fried grasshoppers with lime and chili seasoning), that sounds delicious.
No lime and chili, unfortunately. Just a bunch of beheaded grasshoppers trying to jump out of a dry pan into the naked flames.
Not the nicest picture, but still tasty for survival training.
Did you get a chance to taste hákarl?
Several times. I even brought some home and had it stink up my fridge for a while. We also had horse sashimi on that holiday. Chose not to eat whale but that's for ethical reasons not taste.
Did you try the dried fish. It's my personal favorite from our culinary heritage.
I loved the dried fish. Brought a load of that home too. Little bit of butter, delicious. Had some really great food in Iceland, I'd love to go back and eat more.
By "a little bit" of butter, I hope you mean lots.
There is a lot of great food in Iceland, the traditional stuff is only a part of it. The culinary scene is growing every day now.
Is the "dried fish" referring to lumpfish or some other more common species?
Once got stranded in Reykjavik in the for just under a day due to a delayed flight touching down an hour after the connecting flight left. Hands down the best forced layover I've had - the fact I landed in the first week of July (sunset at 2 AM, sunrise a few hours later!), and a bed, 3 squares, plus shuttle from/to airport were comped certainly didn't hurt. Debating posting a small travel photo album but not sure which subtilde it would go in.
That settles it, kjotsupa is in the queue for my next ~food recipe post - that was the first thing I ordered blindly in a small cafe, and it was delicious.
Everyone seems to know everyone else in there.† I have a relative-in-law who dated an Icelandic lady whose sister wrote an award winning cookbook on the local cuisine. She gifted him said book, which has been passed down to me from said relative.
† On the off chance knows of a tall airport taxi driver with reddish hair named Valdi, please tell him he's awesome and sorry for continuing to refer to him as Mr. Valdi out of habit (first names sans honorifics are almost always used in Iceland to foster an egalitarian culture).
Lumpfish isn't one of the type we usually dry. It's delicious though fresh pan fried. For dried fish (harðfiskur in icelandic, literal meaning hard fish) we use cod, haddock or catfish.
What's the name of the book?
Kjötsúpa is delicious. Make sure you get good quality lamb for though if you can. It's key to a good kjötsúpa to have lamb that doesn't have too much of what some people refer to as "wooly" flavour.
First names are always used, not almost always. It would be strange to address other people with their father's given name.
Hey, sorry about the long radio silence on this end, but I finally found the book.
Icelandic Food & Cookery by Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir
Publisher: Hippocrene Books New York
ISBN 0-7818-0878-2
There's a food blog I follow called FX Cuisine who coined the phrase "as much butter as your conscience will allow" which I think is appropriate. :)
The real trick is not going plain. I had it a while back with bread and potato salad and it tasted quite nice.
Dear lord the entire time I had a face half way between disgusted and fascinated.
Please post more of these experiences, loved it :)