Swedish fish with odor. An overview of an unusual delicacy - the famous Swedish herring "with

If you've ever been to Sweden, you've heard of the local delicacy surstromming. And if they tried it, they definitely did not remain indifferent: someone became an amateur, and someone will continue to bypass this dish. Such a disagreement is not an obstacle for those who want to try the product, and the popularity of a specific delicacy is growing. You can buy and try it in our country. In Moscow stores, surströmming herring is offered at a price of 2500 rubles. for the bank. But it is better to get acquainted with this delicacy in a restaurant for the first time.

What is surstromming

Surströmming is a canned pickled herring with a "smell". Initially, it was like this: herring was used for sourdough, but later they began to use herring. Due to its small size and fewer bones, it is more suitable for preservation in metal cans, and the taste is practically no different from ordinary herring. The product has a specific smell, which reminds several times the multiplied aroma of rotten eggs. This is a decisive criterion for those who still cannot taste the delicacy.

The history of surstromming

The history of the origin of the dish goes back to the 16th century. Then there was a war between Germany and Sweden for leadership in sea waters, the soldiers had practically nothing to eat. The main diet was fish, it was brought to the front pickled. Due to a shortage of food, suppliers began to save on salt by canning herring, and it turned sour. The soldiers had to eat it and, oddly enough, they liked the sour herring.

In the process of fermentation, substances appeared that have a beneficial effect on the body. Many people liked the sour taste. After the end of the war, Swedish herring became popular among the poor, then wealthier citizens tried the product, and surströmming became a local delicacy. Restaurants in Sweden offer various options for dishes that include this pickled fish.

Swedish herring production

Over time, pickled herring began to be in great demand, it became necessary to organize a production that was supposed to supply Sweden with a spicy fish delicacy. On the island of Ulven, at the end of the 19th century, a workshop for the production of surströming was first opened, where they began to use Norwegian herring instead of herring.

The cooking process consists of several stages that require a considerable amount of time:

Fish are caught strictly in April.
They clean, remove the head and entrails, leave the caviar.
They are placed in a container with a special brine, in the manufacture of which salt, sugar and several secret spices are used.
Kvass about 2 months.
In early July, it is sorted and rolled into metal cans - fermentation continues and the lids swell, acquiring rounded shapes. In this form, surstromming is sold.

Taste and amber of surstromming

The taste of the product resembles salted herring, only saltier and with the addition of spices. The sourness adds a spiciness to the taste. The combination of hydrogen sulfide, fermentation product and fishy amber creates a pungent smell. Some simply cannot bear it, not daring to taste the contents of the can. Because of this “aroma”, canned food is forbidden to be transported at Swedish airports and carried into hotel rooms.

How to eat and drink pickled fish

A common use option is a black bread sandwich with fish. A piece of bread is spread with butter, a couple of pieces of fish are put on top, covered with a circle of boiled potatoes, you can also add finely chopped red onion, lingonberries. Wash down the treat with beer or schnapps; true gourmets - milk. Many Swedes use such canned food for salads with the addition of herbs, berries, and vegetables.

How to cook surströmming at home

If you do not have the opportunity to buy surströmming, but really want to try it, then you can cook it at home. The recipe is simple, but the herring is fermented for two weeks. You will need the following ingredients:

1 kg of fresh herring or herring (the head and entrails are removed, the skin is washed with water);
250 g of salt;
50 grams of sugar;
2 liters of water.

Make brine (concentrated brine). Add salt and sugar to a container with water, mix.
Put the fish in a container (wooden or glass) and fill it with prepared brine.
Store in a cool place for two weeks.
After a while, we take the fish by the tail and see if the meat is separated from the bone, if so, then the product is ready for preservation.

Video

Sometimes you are amazed that only people in different countries of the world do not eat. Four years ago, I wrote an article in which I talked about some strange culinary preferences among different peoples. One of the "heroes" of that story of mine will be included in this impromptu rating.

In anticipation, I wonder why some overseas dishes seem strange and even wild to us. Indeed, in the Belarusian cuisine, many peoples may find it strange to use whole pieces of lard, and the combination of lard and milk in some types of machanok will be completely wild for them. And for us, this is quite normal. So, let's begin…

First place. Surströmming, Sweden

Still, you can’t help it, but the most famous rotten fish dish is Swedish surströmming(salted herring, which was fermented). The cooking method is somewhat reminiscent of sauerkraut. Herring is placed in a barrel, where the product is fermented and oxidized. The consequence of these processes is a change in the quality of the original product, its taste, color and smell. After the herring is fermented a little, it is closed in metal cans, where the fermentation process continues.

Such a herring is considered an exquisite delicacy in Sweden; from time to time, herring with a smell can be found at prestigious banquets. Swedes prefer to eat pickled herring with potatoes, tomatoes, raw onions and bread and butter. Wash down such a meal with beer, schnapps or (Oh, my God!) Milk. As you can see, not only in Belarusian cuisine there are peculiar dishes in which, according to unwritten aesthetic rules, there should not be milk, but it is.

Second place. Haukarl, Iceland

In second place is a dish little known among tourists, unlike surströmming, but very popular in the northernmost European country of Iceland. Iceland is famous for its harsh climate, volcanic activity and harsh living conditions (100 years ago for survival). This is probably why Icelanders have been eating very strange things since ancient times. Here is one example haukarl- a polar shark dish.

An interesting way to prepare this toothy fish. The fact is that the meat of the polar shark is unsuitable for food. The shark has no urinary tract, and a huge amount of urea is concentrated in the meat. It is impossible to eat if you do not first cut the shark into pieces, put it in containers with holes and wait until the poisoned juices from the meat spontaneously flow out. This whole procedure lasts 6-8 weeks, and then the pieces of fish cleaned of toxins are dried for another 2-4 months. Before use, the resulting crust is cut off, and the Icelanders eat the rest with pleasure.

Third place. Omul with a smell, Russia

It turns out that there is a suitable candidate for getting into the rating in the vastness of our former country. This is omul with odor, a dish popular on the shores of Lake Baikal.

I heard about the famous Siberian salted or dried omul. Omul can generally be called a symbol of Baikal, which I would really like to visit someday. But it turns out there is a special variety, the so-called omul with a smell. It is prepared like this: fresh fish is dried a little at room temperature, literally a day or two. That's all, after that you can cut off pieces from the omul and eat dipped in salt and pepper.

Fourth place. Rakfisk, Norway

Norwegians, like their neighbors the Swedes, love to ferment fish, because the Vikings are also. But the truth is that they do not ferment herring, but red fish (usually trout). This dish is called rakfisk. Prepared like this: for several months, the fish is fermented in salted brine under pressure. During this period, it is better not to approach the barrel, because. the smell can knock you off your feet.

Norwegians, despite the smell, are very fond of rakfisk, they cook sandwiches with it, and also just eat it seasoning with onions.

Fifth place. Nuoc Mam, Vietnam

Another very famous dish is Vietnamese fish sauce. nyok mum. He received worldwide recognition, today you can buy it in any country in the world, in the department of the store that sells rarities of southeastern cuisine. The finished product is not terrible, but only a little specific. But the way it is prepared can be a little scary.

This is what a mummy looks like...

The sauce is made from small fish, namely anchovies. It is sprinkled with salt and left to ferment in the sun. After the end of fermentation, the fish mixture is put into barrels and infused for several more months, and then filtered. At this stage, the sauce is ready, as I said earlier at this point it is no longer scary.

... And this is how they cook new mums ...

However, popular rumor claims that if you walk near the place of production of nuok mam, you will never forget this moment in your life: there is such a vile and twisting smell.

All Vietnamese cuisine without new mam is not Vietnamese cuisine. If the sauce is not added to the dishes, then they will definitely lubricate something while eating.

Sixth place. Garum, Ancient Rome

Yes, yes ... I decided to include the famous ancient Roman sauce in the rating garum, the cooking technology of which is very similar to the modern southeastern nuok mam. The Romans took small fish (anchovy, tuna, mackerel), added shellfish and herbs to it (+ vinegar, olive oil, pepper and salt were used as preservatives) and sent them to rot somewhere outside the city. And just outside the city. The Romans were aesthetes and could not stand the smell of rotten fish, garum was forbidden to be produced in cities at the legislative level.

P.S.

Wake up with them, be sure to try the rotten fish. Where else can you get it...

Herring is different: salted, dried, with honey, wine and mustard. And there is also rotten herring. Oh, more precisely, pickled. But the smell is almost the same. This herring is made in Scandinavia, in Sweden. We decided to find out where else in the world they eat rotten fish and why they do it.

Introducing 6 famous rotten fish dishes:

Surströmming

The famous dish of Swedish cuisine is salted herring, which has been fermented. The process is similar to sauerkraut, the product is fermented, oxidized, and at the same time its qualities, taste, color, smell change. The herring is slightly fermented, and then closed in cans, where the fermentation process is still ongoing.

In Sweden, fish is considered an exquisite delicacy, it is even sometimes served at banquets, and every extreme tourist considers himself obliged to try surströmming sandwiches. Swedes eat pickled herring with potatoes, tomatoes, raw onions and bread and butter. And washed down with beer, schnapps or milk.

Rakfisk

This delicacy is made in Norway. Here, too, fish is fermented, but only red, usually trout. It is fermented for several months, under pressure, in saline. As a result, she smells… Wow! An unprepared person cannot cope with it. As in Sweden, Norwegians respect rakfisk very much, they make sandwiches with it, eat it with onions.

Omul with a scent

Omul is a symbol of Baikal. Salted or dried omul is one of the most popular dishes that came to us from Siberia. But there is another type of this fish - with a smell. He is well known on the shores of the great lake. Fresh fish is left to stew a little, just a little, just at room temperature for a day or two. And then they cut off pieces from the omul, dip them in salt and pepper and eat them.

haukarl

Iceland is a harsh place, so the locals eat very strange things. For example, haukarl is a polar shark dish. This fresh fish is unsuitable for eating, there is too much urea in its meat, since the shark does not have a urinary tract. But in a rotten-dried form - just right. The carcass of the Greenland shark is cut into pieces, put in containers with holes so that the poisoned juices from the meat flow freely. So the shark is cooked from 6 to 8 weeks. Then the pieces of fish are dried for 2-4 months. The crust that formed in the process is cut off. And enjoy the amazing taste.

Nuok Mam

To try rotten shark or herring, you have to go to Iceland or Scandinavia. The famous Vietnamese fish sauce nuoc mam can also be bought from us, it is sold everywhere where they specialize in southeastern cuisine, in oriental spice shops, for example.

This sauce is also spicy. And it is based on the fermentation of small fish, in particular anchovies. They are sprinkled with salt and left to ferment in the sun. Tourists who are “lucky” to pass by the production of this sauce cannot forget this smell for the rest of their lives - it is so vile. After fermentation, what happened is put into barrels and insisted for several months, filtered. The result is not at all terrible, although a rather specific sauce. Quite exotic, like all southeastern cuisine. Without this sauce, Vietnamese cuisine is unthinkable, it is added to most dishes, and where it is not added, it is smeared with this sauce.

Garum

The finished sauce was sealed in small clay vessels.

Southeastern fish sauce technology is very similar to that of garum, the sauce of the ancient Romans. They also stewed the smallest fish (anchovy, tuna, mackerel), added shellfish and herbs to them. The sauce also included vinegar, olive oil, pepper and salt.

Irina Kamshilina

Cooking for someone is much more pleasant than for yourself))

Content

What is surstromming

Surströmming is a canned pickled herring with a "smell". Initially, it was like this: herring was used for sourdough, but later they began to use herring. Due to its small size and fewer bones, it is more suitable for preservation in metal cans, and the taste is practically no different from ordinary herring. The product has a specific smell, which reminds several times the multiplied aroma of rotten eggs. This is a decisive criterion for those who still cannot taste the delicacy.

The history of surstromming

Swedish herring production

The cooking process consists of several stages that require a considerable amount of time:

Fish are caught strictly in April.
They clean, remove the head and entrails, leave the caviar.
They are placed in a container with a special brine, in the manufacture of which salt, sugar and several secret spices are used.
Kvass about 2 months.
In early July, it is sorted and rolled into metal cans - fermentation continues and the lids swell, acquiring rounded shapes. In this form, surstromming is sold.

Taste and amber of surstromming

The taste of the product resembles salted herring, only saltier and with the addition of spices. The sourness adds a spiciness to the taste. The combination of hydrogen sulfide, fermentation product and fishy amber creates a pungent smell. Some simply cannot bear it, not daring to taste the contents of the can. Because of this “aroma”, canned food is forbidden to be transported at Swedish airports and carried into hotel rooms.

How to eat and drink pickled fish

How to cook surströmming at home

1 kg of fresh herring or herring (the head and entrails are removed, the skin is washed with water);
250 g of salt;
50 grams of sugar;
2 liters of water.

Make brine (concentrated brine). Add salt and sugar to a container with water, mix.
Put the fish in a container (wooden or glass) and fill it with prepared brine.
Store in a cool place for two weeks.
After a while, we take the fish by the tail and see if the meat is separated from the bone, if so, then the product is ready for preservation.

There is a delicacy in Swedish national cuisine that stands apart from other dishes and deserves special attention. We will talk about surströmming - the famous Swedish herring "with a smell". For a person inexperienced in Swedish cuisine, this name will most likely not cause a special reaction, but in Sweden itself there can be only two options for attitude. Surströmming is either loved or disliked enough to demand a ban on eating it in apartment buildings, and some airlines have banned it from the on-board menu. And there are several reasons for such a different attitude. Fans are said to find the subtle, delicately spicy taste of surströmming unbeatable.

However, not everyone dares to appreciate the taste of this Swedish fish delicacy, because if the taste of surstromming is a real pleasure, then the smell is more than a severe test. The smell of Swedish sauerkraut is so unpleasant that most foreigners never dare to try it. Due to the strong, almost unbearable smell, surströmming has received rather unattractive names: both “smelly herring”, and “Rotten Swedish herring”, and “second-fresh herring”. All these names are completely unfair - and there are two errors here. Firstly, not herring is used for making, but Baltic herring, and secondly, the fish for this dish is taken of the best quality. All aromatic features are related to the technology of preparation.

The recipe for real surströmming has been around for more than five hundred years. In the 16th century, during the hostilities waged by the Swedish king Gustav I Vasa with the German city of Lübeck, there was a shortage of salt supplies. In this regard, the herring was salted with less salt, which disrupted the normal canning process, and the product began to ferment. In conditions of war and famine, fermented herring began to be eaten. To everyone's surprise, it did not taste like rotten meat at all, and someone even liked its sour taste. The fish is not rotten, but “sour”. Rumors spread about the new dish, and since salt was expensive even in peacetime, in northern Sweden, where it was not easy to get fresh food, among the poor, “fermenting” herring became a common method of preserving it. According to the tradition, enshrined by royal decree, it was possible to open jars with pickled herring only on the third Thursday of August. This decree was canceled only in 1998, after which fans of surstromming can enjoy it all year round.

The technology for preparing Swedish herring is as follows: small Baltic herring, caught in the spring before spawning, is soaked for several days in brine (high concentration saline). This allows you to remove fat and blood. After that, for two months, the fish is rolled into barrels with a less concentrated saline solution, in which it begins to ferment and acquires a specific softness, and a corresponding unbearable smell.

After two months, around July, the fermented herring is rolled into tins, and the fermentation process continues there. By the way, jars with surströmming are easy to identify on the counter: due to the high pressure created inside them, canned food acquires a noticeable rounded shape. Fermented herring is produced mainly in the northern coastal regions, in the province of Norrland.

The process of using already matured surströmming also has a number of distinctive features. As mentioned above, the fermentation process continues even after the herring has been packaged in jars and excess pressure is created inside them. Therefore, surströmming cans are only opened underwater to equalize the pressure.

Otherwise, anyone who dares to open pickled herring in the open air will be completely splashed with fish brine, and things will inevitably be spoiled. It is also advisable to open the jar outdoors so that the pronounced smell of carrion does not attract flies. After the jar is opened, the surströmming is rinsed well under running water. And only after that the famous pickled Swedish herring can be served at the table.

The traditional option for eating Swedish herring is a kind of sandwich with pickled Baltic herring. Butter or soft cheese made from goat's whey is spread on unleavened barley bread. Spread a layer of herring on top, and on it mugs of potatoes and finely chopped onions. The bread is then rolled up and eaten with the hands. The rich taste of herring is complemented by sweet potatoes and spicy onions. You can wash down a sandwich with surströmming in Russian with vodka. True, real connoisseurs prefer milk.