Swedish Cultural Experience #102 (Surstromming - The Most Horrible, Horrible, Horrible Food in The World)
The last Swedish delicacy I was yet to enjoy - I had to tick it off the list before I went home, even though I knew I was in for a very painful experience.
Surströmming!!!?!
a.k.a. Rotten Herring
ROTTEN Herring…
I’ve loved every single bizarre food I’ve eaten in Sweden over the past year: Elk Burgers, Brown Cheese, Blood Pudding, “Kroppkakor”, Janssons Frestelse, Dried Reindeer, Snaps & Crawfish, Soured Milk, and caviar in a toothpaste tube, to name but a few.
But this was too much.
It’s basically fillets of fish that have been left to rot for a few months, after which they’ve been canned and allowed to continue rotting for several more.
Which ends up producing one of the most horrible odours I’ve ever experienced.
According to Wikipedia, it has a pungent, rotten-egg, rancid-butter and vinegary smell.
Personally I think they’re being generous.
The first whiff I got after opening the can was quite possibly the worst smell I’ve ever experienced. Not just food, the worst smell, from anything, that I’ve ever smelt, ever.
I wasn’t far from throwing up, and I was supposed to turn around and eat it…?
I managed to take three tiny bites, but each time I couldn’t possibly get over the horrible, horrible, horrible smell in order to tell whether or not it tasted any good.
As far as I could tell it was only partially better on the tongue than the nose.
Yet, somehow, this food is sold in supermarkets all over the country, and is considered somewhat of a traditional delight.
It’s ROTTEN FISH for christ’s sake.
And the Swedes say Vegemite tastes bad… Unbelievable…
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:06 am
haha gross, that caviar in a tube was enough for me
June 28th, 2010 at 9:36 am
hey just found ur site in some way dunno how =) im a swede and the caviar is soooo good and all the other thing u said but i have smelled surströmming once only and that was enough for me.. i know ppl who like it and they are not right in the head =) glad u cant buy it in my town =) haha.. sounded funny tho when u said caviar on a toothpaste tube haha.. hilarious.. =) u were from australia? damn.. wanna go there and fish and scuba =)
take care greets from a hot summer sweden (well only 26C) outside but still
June 29th, 2010 at 1:23 am
LOL!
I am from Sweden and have never tried surströmming and will not neither!! I actually don’t even know anyone that likes it:)
You are a brave man!