"Sweden's most pungent tradition: fermented Baltic herring that makes the can bulge. Opened outdoors. Northern Swedes are completely sincere about enjoying it."
About Surströmming
Sweden's most notorious fermented food and the world's most pungent canned product, Baltic herring fermented in a low-salt brine for months until the can bulges from the gas; opened outdoors (legally required in many apartment buildings); the smell is overwhelming; but eaten on tunnbröd flatbread with cream, onion and potato by northern Swedes who consider it a seasonal delicacy.
Surströmming, a staple of Sweden's cuisine
Sweden's Most Notorious
Surstromming is Sweden's most pungent tradition: Baltic herring fermented in a low-salt brine for months until the tin bulges with gas. Its smell is famously overpowering, which is why the can is opened outdoors. Northern Swedes eat it as a genuine seasonal delicacy, and they are entirely sincere about enjoying it.
The Ferment
Unlike heavily salted preserved fish, surstromming is fermented in just enough brine to ferment rather than fully cure, which is what produces its intense aroma and sour, deeply savoury flavour. The fermentation continues in the sealed tin, building the pressure that makes it bulge. It is a preservation method pushed to its limit.
The Opening
Opening a tin of surstromming is a careful business, traditionally done outdoors and often in a bowl of water to contain the gas and the smell. This is practical advice rather than theatre. The ritual of the opening is part of the experience.
A Northern Tradition
Surstromming is eaten on thin tunnbrod flatbread with cream, raw red onion, almond potato and chives, the accompaniments taming the intensity. The flavour is milder than the smell, briny and fermented rather than foul. It shows the stubbornness of northern Swedish food culture, a tradition kept alive for the sake of heritage and genuine love of it.
What to Expect
The surströmming is opened outdoors, the gas escaping with a sound and a smell that is difficult to describe accurately. On flatbread with cream and onion, the flavour is milder than the smell: briny, slightly sour, deeply fermented.
Why Try It
Surströmming reveals the stubbornness of Swedish northern food culture, a tradition maintained due to the importance of preserving cultural heritage.
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Insider Tips
Open outdoors and in a bowl of water to contain the gas release.
The flavour is milder than the smell, approach with genuine curiosity.
The season is August-September, the surstromming premiere (surströmmingspremiären) is in August.
