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(; ) is lightly salted,
fermented Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic compound, Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are Catabo ...
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...
traditional to
Swedish cuisine Swedish cuisine () is the traditional food of Sweden. Due to Sweden's large north-to-south expanse, there are regional differences between the cuisine of Norrland, North and South Sweden. Historically, in the far north, meats such as reindeer, ...
since at least the
16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...
. It is distinct from fried or
pickled herring Pickled herring is a traditional way of preserving herring as food by pickling or Curing (food preservation), curing. Most cured herring uses a two-step curing (food preservation), curing process: it is first cured with salt to extract water; th ...
. The
Baltic herring Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. ...
, known as in Swedish, is smaller than the
Atlantic herring Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. ...
found in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
. Traditionally, is defined as herring caught in the
brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
waters of the Baltic north of the Kalmar Strait. The herring used for are caught prior to
spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...
in April and May. During the production of surströmming, just enough
salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
is used to prevent the raw herring from rotting while allowing it to
ferment Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic compound, Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are Catabo ...
. A fermentation process of at least six months gives the fish its characteristic strong smell and somewhat acidic taste. A newly opened can of surströmming has one of the most putrid food smells in the world, even stronger than similarly fermented fish dishes such as the Korean , the Japanese or the Icelandic , making surströmming an
acquired taste An acquired taste is an appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. It is the opposite of innate taste, which is the appreciation for things that are enjoyable by most people without p ...
. At the end of the 1940s, surströmming producers in Sweden lobbied for a royal ordinance () 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. While the ordinance is no longer in force, retailers still maintain the date for the "premiere" of that year's catch.


Origin

Surströmming has been part of northern
Swedish cuisine Swedish cuisine () is the traditional food of Sweden. Due to Sweden's large north-to-south expanse, there are regional differences between the cuisine of Norrland, North and South Sweden. Historically, in the far north, meats such as reindeer, ...
since at least the 16th century.
Fermented fish Fermented fish is a traditional preservation of fish. Before refrigeration, canning and other modern preservation techniques became available, fermenting was an important preservation method. Fish rapidly spoils, or goes rotten, unless some method ...
is a traditional staple in European cuisines. The oldest archeological findings of fish fermentation are 9,200 years old and originate from the south of today's Sweden. More recent examples include
garum Garum is a fermentation (food), fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, Ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Greece, Ancient Roman cuisine, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantine cuisine, Byzantium. Liquamen is a si ...
, a fermented fish sauce made by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and
Worcestershire sauce Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce (UK: ) is a fermented liquid condiment invented by pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century ...
, which also contains fermented fish. Preservation of fish through fermentation in weak
brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...
may have developed when brining was still expensive due to the cost of salt. In modern times, the fish are initially marinated in a strong brine solution that draws out the blood, then fermented in a weaker brine in barrels prior to canning. The
canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...
procedure, introduced in the 19th century, enabled the product to be marketed in shops and stored at home, whereas formerly the final stage would have been storage in large wooden barrels and smaller, one-litre kegs. Canning also enabled the product to be marketed farther south in Sweden.


Chemical process

Fermentation occurs through autolysis and starts from a
lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has the molecular formula C3H6O3. It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as wel ...
enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
in the spine of the fish. Together with bacteria, pungent smelling acids are formed, such as
propionic acid Propionic acid (, from the Greek language, Greek words πρῶτος : ''prōtos'', meaning "first", and πίων : ''píōn'', meaning "fat"; also known as propanoic acid) is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula . It is a ...
,
butyric acid Butyric acid (; from , meaning "butter"), also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula . It is an oily, colorless liquid with an unpleasant odor. Isobutyric acid (2-met ...
and
acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main compone ...
.
Hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...
is also produced. The salt raises the
osmotic pressure Osmotic pressure is the minimum pressure which needs to be applied to a Solution (chemistry), solution to prevent the inward flow of its pure solvent across a semipermeable membrane. It is also defined as the measure of the tendency of a soluti ...
of the brine above the zone where bacteria responsible for rotting can thrive and prevents decomposition of proteins into
oligopeptide An oligopeptide ('' oligo-'', "a few"), is a peptide consisting of two to twenty amino acids, including dipeptides, tripeptides, tetrapeptides, and other polypeptides. Some of the major classes of naturally occurring oligopeptides include aerugi ...
s and
amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 a ...
s. Instead, the osmotic conditions enable '' Halanaerobium'' bacteria such as '' H. praevalens'' to thrive and decompose the fish
glycogen Glycogen is a multibranched polysaccharide of glucose that serves as a form of energy storage in animals, fungi, and bacteria. It is the main storage form of glucose in the human body. Glycogen functions as one of three regularly used forms ...
into
organic acid An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO2OH, are re ...
s, making it sour (acidic).


Production and market

The herring are caught in April and May, when they are in prime condition and about to spawn, and have not yet fattened. They are put into a strong brine for about 20 hours that draws out the blood, after which the heads and innards are removed and the fish is put into a weaker brine solution. The barrels are placed in a temperature-controlled room kept at . Canning takes place at the beginning of July and for five weeks thereafter. Ten days prior to the premiere the final product is distributed to wholesalers. The fermentation of the fish relies on a lactic acid enzyme in the spine that is activated if the conditions, temperature and brine concentration, are right. The low temperature in Northern Sweden is one of the elements that contribute to the character of the final product. Prior to the development of modern canning methods, surströmming was sold in wooden barrels for immediate consumption, as even the smaller kegs could leak. Fermentation continues in the can, causing it to bulge noticeably, which would usually be a sign of
botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, Fatigue (medical), feeling tired, and trouble speaking. ...
or other
food poisoning Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...
concern in non-fermented canned foods. Species of '' Halanaerobium'' bacteria are responsible for the in-can ripening. These bacteria produce
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...
and a number of compounds that account for the unique odor: pungent (
propionic acid Propionic acid (, from the Greek language, Greek words πρῶτος : ''prōtos'', meaning "first", and πίων : ''píōn'', meaning "fat"; also known as propanoic acid) is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula . It is a ...
), rotten-egg (
hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...
), rancid-butter (
butyric acid Butyric acid (; from , meaning "butter"), also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula . It is an oily, colorless liquid with an unpleasant odor. Isobutyric acid (2-met ...
), and vinegary (
acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main compone ...
). Due to these gases, a thousand cans of surströmming exploded over a period of six hours during a fire at a Swedish warehouse in 2014. Surströmming is commonly sold in grocery stores all over Sweden. According to the Surströmming Academy's statistics from 2009, about 2 million people eat surströmming annually. Sweden's export of surströmming is only 0.2 percent of all produced surströmming. Many people do not care for surströmming. As with the Nordic dried-fish dish ''
lutefisk ''Lutefisk'' ( Norwegian, in Northern and parts of Central Norway, in Southern Norway; ; ; literally " lye fish") is dried whitefish, usually cod, but sometimes ling or burbot, cured in lye. It is made from aged stockfish (air-dri ...
'', it is a food that meets strong reactions. It is more popular in northern Sweden than in other parts of the country. , over the past few years, the supply of Baltic and other herring caught by Swedish fishermen has dramatically declined. Baltic herring fisheries have been used unsustainably since the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, and overfishing is pushing populations to the brink of collapse. With such low catch numbers, retailers are now selling out their entire supply within minutes of the annual surströmming release.


Preparation

Swedes usually consume surströmming after the third Thursday of August, labeled as "Surströmming day", through early September. Because of the strong smell, it is often eaten outdoors. The pressurized can is usually opened some distance away from the dining table and is often initially punctured while immersed in a bucket of water, or after tapping and angling it upwards at 45 degrees, to prevent escaping gas from spraying brine. Surströmming comes both ungutted with only the heads removed and as fillets. With the former, the fish is gutted prior to eating, and the backbone and sometimes the skin are removed. The
roe Roe, ( ) or hard roe, is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooking, c ...
is commonly eaten along with the fish. Surströmming is often eaten with
tunnbröd Tunnbröd (; literally 'thinbread') is a Swedish version of flatbread. Tunnbröd can be soft or crisp, and comes in many variants depending on choice of grain, leavening agent (or lack thereof) and rolling pin. The dough is made from any combin ...
, either soft or a crispy type of flatbread made of different kind of
flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...
, sometimes it also contains milk and bread spices. Crispy tunnbröd has a bubbly texture and is more brittle than typical crispbread made of
rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...
. The use of tunnbröd originated in the High Coast area, where the tradition is to make a sandwich (known as a ''surströmmingsklämma'') with two pieces of buttered hard tunnbröd. In addition to the fish, the two most common toppings are potatoes (either sliced or mashed, often almond potatoes) and finely diced red onion. Surströmming is also commonly eaten without bread, with potatoes and red onion. To counterbalance the strong flavour of the fish, Västerbotten cheese is sometimes added. In the southern part of Sweden, it is customary to use a variety of condiments such as diced red onion, ''
gräddfil Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by Fermentation in food processing, fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The Microbiological culture, bacterial cultur ...
'' (fat fermented
sour cream Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...
similar to smetana) or
crème fraîche Crème fraîche (English pronunciation: , , lit. "fresh cream") is a dairy product similar to cream cheese, a soured cream containing 10–45% butterfat, with a pH of approximately 4.5. It is soured with a Microbiological culture, bacterial cult ...
,
chives Chives, scientific name ''Allium schoenoprasum'', is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. A perennial plant, ''A. schoenoprasum'' is widespread in nature across much of Eurasia and North America. It is the only spe ...
, and sometimes tomato and chopped
dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...
. Surströmming is commonly served with ''
snaps In the Nordic countries, especially Denmark and Sweden, but not in Iceland, snaps ( , ), among many nicknames, is a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. In Denmark, a snaps will always be akvavit, althou ...
'', light beers like
pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...
or
lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...
, svagdricka (a type of
small beer Small beer (also known as small ale or table beer) is a lager or ale that contains a lower amount of alcohol by volume than most others, usually between 0.5% and 2.8%. Sometimes unfiltered and porridge-like, it was a favoured drink in Medieval ...
), water, or cold
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...
. What to drink with surströmming is disputed among
connoisseur A connoisseur (French language, French Reforms of French orthography, traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge ...
s. Surströmming is usually served as the focus of a traditional festivity called a ''surströmmingsskiva''.


International opinion

German
food critic A food critic, food writer, or restaurant critic is a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings to the public. Terminology "Food writer" is often used as a broad term that encompasses someone who w ...
and author Wolfgang Fassbender wrote that "the biggest challenge when eating surströmming is to
vomit Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...
only after the first bite, as opposed to before".


European Union

Due to being made from herring from the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
, surströmming today contains higher levels of dioxins and PCBs than permitted in the EU. Sweden was granted exceptions to these rules from 2002 to 2011 and then applied for a renewal of the exceptions. Producers have said that if the application is denied, they will only be allowed to use herring less than long, as those contain lower levels, which will affect the availability of herring.


Surströmming challenge

Since gaining notoriety as one of the world's smelliest foods (including being discussed on the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
panel show '' QI''), surströmming has become the focus of a number of "challenge" videos on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
and other platforms, where people uninitiated to the food perform opening a can for the first time, usually with initial reactions, and trying to eat the fish without preparation. Often the videos show the participants gagging, swearing, holding their noses, or vomiting. The videos have been criticized for not following normal preparation methods, which include opening the can outdoors and/or underwater, gutting the fish and removing the backbone, and serving with
tunnbröd Tunnbröd (; literally 'thinbread') is a Swedish version of flatbread. Tunnbröd can be soft or crisp, and comes in many variants depending on choice of grain, leavening agent (or lack thereof) and rolling pin. The dough is made from any combin ...
(a Swedish flatbread) and other accoutrements to make a surströmmingsklämma ("surströmming sandwich").


German eviction

In 1981, a German landlord evicted a tenant without notice after the tenant spread surströmming brine in the apartment building's stairwell. When the landlord was taken to court, the court ruled that the termination was justified after the landlord's party demonstrated their case by opening a can inside the courtroom. The court concluded that it "had convinced itself that the disgusting smell of the fish brine far exceeded the degree that fellow-tenants in the building could be expected to tolerate".


Airline bans

In April 2006, several major airlines (such as
Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...
,
British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
,
Finnair Finnair Plc (, ) is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its airline hub, hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
, and KLM) banned the fish, claiming that the pressurised cans of fish are potentially explosive. The sale of the fish was subsequently discontinued at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. Those who produce the fish have called the airlines' decision "culturally illiterate", claiming that it is a "myth that the tinned fish can explode".


Protests in Hong Kong

During the
March 2018 Hong Kong by-elections The 2018 Hong Kong Legislative Council by-election was held on 11 March 2018 for four of the six vacancies in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) - the Hong Kong Island (constituency), Hong Kong Island, Kowloon West (1998 constituency) ...
, the returning officer Amy Chan Yuen-man had disqualified two localist candidates Ventus Lau and James Chan Kwok-keung. Lau visited the Home Affairs Department of Sha Tin District Office in person asking for a meeting with Chan. Lau had brought a can of surströmming and opened it in public. Lau said that he would like Chan to sense that the Hong Kong people are facing an entirely rotten election system. Lau launched an appeal to the Court, which ruled that Chan's decisions were not justified.


Museum

On 4 June 2005, the first surströmming museum in the world was opened in Skeppsmalen, south-east of
Örnsköldsvik Örnsköldsvik (; ), often shortened to just Ö-vik, is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in th ...
, a town at the northern end of the High Coast. The name of the museum is "''Fiskevistet''" (translated as 'The Fish Encampment').


See also

*
Delicacy A delicacy is a rare food item that is considered highly desirable, sophisticated, or peculiarly distinctive within a given culture or region. A delicacy may have an unusual flavor or be expensive compared to everyday foods. Delicacies va ...
* '' Spekesild'' – herring pickled in salt


Other fermented fish dishes

* Cantonese salted fish *
Colatura di alici (; ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian fish sauce made from Anchovies as food, anchovies, from the small fishing village of Cetara, Campania. The sauce is a transparent, amber (color), amber-colored liquid, produced by fermenting salted anchovies i ...
– typical sauce of
Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...
connected with
garum Garum is a fermentation (food), fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, Ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Greece, Ancient Roman cuisine, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantine cuisine, Byzantium. Liquamen is a si ...
* '' Fesikh'' – Egyptian fermented fish * ''
Hákarl (short for ), referred to as fermented shark in English, is a national dish of Iceland consisting of Greenland shark or other sleeper shark that has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months. I ...
'' – Icelandic fermented shark *
Kusaya is a salted, dried fish, dried and fermented fish that is produced in the Izu Islands, Japan. It has a pungent smell and is similar to the fermented Swedish herring surströmming. Taste Though the smell of kusaya is strong, its taste is quite ...
– Japanese fermented then dried fish * ''
Pla ra ''Pla ra'' (, ; , ), similar to padaek in Laos, is a traditional Thai cuisine, Thai seasoning produced by fermenting fish with rice bran or roasted rice flour and salt fermented in a closed container for at least six months. Fermented fish se ...
'' – fermented fish and rice flour seasoning common throughout Southeast Asia * '' Pekasam'' – Malaysian and Indonesian fermented fish * '' Prahok'' – fermented fish paste (usually mudfish) unique to Cambodia * ''
Rakfisk ''Rakfisk'' () is a Norwegian cuisine, Norwegian fish recipe, dish made from trout or Salvelinus, char, salted and autolysis (biology), autolyzed for two to three months, or even up to a year. ''Rakfisk'' is then eaten without cooking and has a s ...
'' – Norwegian fermented freshwater fish * '' Shiokara'' – Japanese seafood fermented in highly salted
viscera In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...


Other strong-smelling foods

* * *
Durian The durian () is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognized species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the only species ...
– very pungent-smelling fruit from southeast Asia * * Kiviak – fermented birds in seal skin from Greenland *
Nattō is a traditional Japanese cuisine, Japanese food made from whole soybeans that have been Fermentation in food processing, fermented with Bacillus subtilis, ''Bacillus subtilis'' var. ''natto''. It is often served as a breakfast food with rice. ...
– fermented soybeans, commonly consumed in Japan *
Shrimp paste Shrimp paste or prawn sauce is a Fermentation, fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, Southeast Asian and Coastal Chinese cuisines. It is primarily made from finely crushed Shrimp and prawn as food, shrimp or krill mixed ...
– prawn sauce or ''trasi'', a fermented condiment used in Asian and Chinese cuisines * * Tyrolean grey cheese – a strongly flavoured cheese made in the Tyrolean Alp valleys of Austria


References


Further reading

* Ringblom, Fredrik and Westerlund, Örjan (2009
''Surströmming: En handbok.''
Grenadine. . (Swedish)


External links




Encyclopedia Britannica: Surströmming


{{DEFAULTSORT:Surstromming Fermented fish Canned meat Swedish cuisine Norrland Fish processing National dishes Herring dishes