The tasting of surströmming

Although it comes in a can, it should be stored cold. If you open it and it looks something like mushed up tuna, as I have seen in some Youtube challenge videos, something has gone terribly wrong. Don't eat it!

Unless you have a can of filets, you should gut and clean out your strömming. Keep the roe if you get a lady fish, the rest of the innards you don't want. I have never seen a properly gutted strömming on Youtube. And of course you get the bones out. Unlike pickled herring, where the acidity softens the bones, the spine of a surströmming is not pleasant to eat.

Eating it indoors is fine. You don't need a bucket of water to open it in. A napkin to protect against spray due to the pressure is fine. Pros just tilt the can slightly and open it without even a napkin. The smell is admittedly potent but it's not a chemical weapon. All the crazy stories about how the smell is impossible to get rid of are told by people who don't eat it themselves, in my experience.

The taste is obviously quite strong. A little bit goes a long way together with plenty of bread and potatoes. It is also very salty, so you will probably want to drink something.

And most importantly, expectations matter. Presentation matter. The reactions of people around you matter. If you have brought a can of the most disgusting food in the world, a bucket to barf in and your mates are giggling and ready to record your reaction, you will most likely not enjoy surströmming.

However, if you come to a set table, where the strömming is presented as actual food, you can feel how the other guests are enjoying themselves and you are also there to do the same, you are much more likely to actually do so.

I have been present several times when people have had surströmming for the first time. Some people liked it, some people didn't. Most make a comment about the smell. But they have all tasted it without hesitation. Not a single one gagged the slightest. None of them were in it for the thrill or the challenge. They were just guest there to enjoy a dinner with friends.

I'd describe the texture as being a little sponge-like compared to, say, tinned tuna. The flavour is strong and slightly acid. The smell was pungent but not particularly awful.

On the whole I think people exaggerate; it's no more revolting than a strong cheese might be, and the "rotting herring" description you sometimes hear is about as indicative as "rotted milk" would be for cheeses.

On the other hand we had it outside and they do say it's much worse indoors. It was noticeable that the moment the tin was opened it attracted flies though!

Our host opened the noticeably swelling tin without a bucket of water, but he was an old hand at it.

1. the smell varies from can to can (age etc). That’s why people have very different experiences when opening one.

2. The smell is not like the flavor. 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). You have it (sometimes quite little, depending on how much you like it) on a huge piece of hard bread together with lots of other things like potatoes. The exact combination of things on the sandwich is the cause of family feuds. It’s like anchovies on a pizza vs eating a can of anchovies...

4. If you meet a Swede they will most likely have tried it, but probably don’t like it. It’s only commonly eaten in the northern half of the country, while most people live in the south.

Surströmming is great - in small amount together with fresh potatoes and melted butter, on thin crispy bread.

A relative attended a school in in London during the 60s, living in a dormitory. One of the students didn’t wash his socks. So my relative and his friend opened a tin of surströmming and placed it in this guys trash bin.

The guy with the smelly socks friends entered the dormitory and smelled the surströmming thinking it was his socks. So they throwed them away.

Well now my relative and his friend had to swiftly remove the tin with surströmming, so they placed it outside in a tree.

Then the school directors 2 poodle dogs came along and found the surströmming ton and eat it up.

The directors wife was a piano teacher and had a lesson with a student when the dogs entered the piano room. The directors wife shouted something like “O my dear dogs, where have you been..” and having no clue what it was. Well, she gave this dogs a good bath.

Oh, the smell. We did chase everybody else out of the coffee room when I opened it (using the bucket trick, yes). A bit later the lab engineer called me:

- I got some complaint about the toilet drain malfunctioning, and that you might have something to do with it?

- Uh oh...

Sometime later one of my co-conspirators moved on to do a post-doc in another country, where he eventually repeated our stunt. Except he forgot the bucket thing, and sprayed the foul smelling bile on some poor bystander.

Living in Stockholm, you call friends and relatives who like surströmming and set a date and time.

If you have neighbours from other cultures, it is adviced to set up a notice in the entrance. Otherwise they maybe will call for a plumber.

Everything that is present during a meal with surströmming will probably catch the smell. Therefore it is advised to not have your finest suit on. And the best way is to eat outdoors.

Eating outdoors could bring along insects to the table. To mitigate this you could pour some of the brine in a coup or two and set them some meters from the table and the insects gravitate to them instead.

The rest of the channel tends more towards the disassembly of electronic devices and analysis of their construction.