Conference turris::scandia

    Surstr�mming has a strong and salty fishy taste that most people can
    tolerate. The problem is to get the surstr�mming past your nose and
    into your mouth - it stinks !!
    
    I suggest that you find a remote place, bring a disposable can opener
    and then open the can holding a paper towel over the can opener to
    avoid getting surstr�mming juice over your hands and clothing. 
    
    At this point, after experience the smell, you might just decide to go
    home and leave the surstr�mmings at the remote place ( where they
    belong in the first place ). 
    
    If you decide to bring the surstr�mmings home with you, don't bring
    them inside your house ( I am serious ). My parents love surstr�mming
    and our housed smelled like surstr�mming days after they had a 'party'.
    
    I should point out that most people eat surstr�mming only after
    first consuming great quantities of Absolute.
    
    BONNE APPETITE
    
    	- Mikael

    If you would like further discussion of this "Swedish delicacy"
    I refer you to reply 165.1 and those that follow, up to and including
    reply 165.7

	Group soc.culture.nordic         
	article 112          10:55:49.78 

	From: [email protected] (Jonas Flygare)                          
	Subject: Re: surstr|mming...                                      
	Organization: Dep. of Computer Systems, Upsala University, Sweden 

    Str|mming (or stro\"mming) is herring. (more or less) "sur" means sour,
    and it is prepared by putting the fish in a barrel (I think they just
    remove the heads, thats all) with salt & some other stuff. The thing
    is, it is not ENOUGH salt to preserve the fish, so it starts
    fermenting. (not rotting, though..)                

    The smell from this fermented fish is not of this world.              
    (Im not saying _which_ world it is from.. ;-)                         
    After fermenting for 1/2 year or so, the barrels are opened           
    and the fish is canned. The fermentation continues and gives the cans 
    a football-like appearance. The pressure can be quite high, and one of
    the dreads of grocery-store workers is cleaning up the mess when one  
    of these potential bombs really do explode.. ;-)                      

    Two stories about this delicacy:

    One of my friends was staying in the middle east (as was me & my
    parents, all this being back in 1979), and his aunt brought three cans
    down for Xmas. Since the pressurized cans exploded on the plane the
    airport crew suspected a corpse was lying somewhere in the cargo and
    called the airport police. They found the three cans, and had my friend
    come get them, since no one would go near the (now torn) bag. When he
    went across the terminal he never had less than 3 meters to the nearest
    person. And the place was _crowded_.. 

    My parents got a can from a friend, and decided to open it and have a
    small party. When I got back from town, I could _see_ the black cloud
    of flies being attracted by the aroma.. And that was standing some 100
    meters away... ;-) 

    Group soc.culture.nordic
    article 905                                        

    From: [email protected] (Bj|rn Lisper)
    Subject: Re: Strange food and stuff...
    Organization: The Royal Inst. of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.

    -----

    Surstroemming is, in my opinion, to be eaten on a piece of soft
    "tunnbroed" (thin bread made from barley, quite reminiscent of Indian
    chapati bread), the kind of potatoes called "mandelpotatis" in Swedish
    (although ordinary potatoes will also do) and chopped onions. You
    spread some butter on the bread, mash the potatoes on top of it, put
    pieces of surstroemming on the mashed potatoes and finally you top it
    with chopped onions. Roll the bread together. Stuff the end of the roll
    into your mouth. Chew. Enjoy. A beer and a small glass of vodka (or
    aquavit) won't hurt either.

    Of course, fermenting fish is just another kind of preserving it. In
    the old days this was pretty common with other kinds of fish as well.
    And in some other countries it's done with veggies, think of sauerkraut
    for instance.

    Bj|rn Lisper    (Bjoern Lisper)                    

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: surstr�mming review
    Date: 19 Oct 89 13:08:46 GMT
    Sender: [email protected]                               
    Organization: The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

    Leif Sterner writes:
    
    >another delicacy that I did not taste myself was surstr�mming with
    >roasted potatores and beer with just plain vodka.

    Ah, glad I can finally provide a review!  About four months ago I
    recieved a tin and decided to post to figure out how to eat it. Most of
    the Nordic-types on the net sent posts like "..oh, you are so lucky to
    get that in the states, yum,yum, eat it all up, etc... _and make sure
    to do it outside_."  Whoa.

    I took the stuff with me to Canada (to eat it outside, right! :-) and
    got stopped at the border because the Canadian gov't wasn't sure if
    they wanted me to be bringing that stuff in the country.  Imagine what
    a tin of surstr�mming could be used for in the wrong hands..;-)

    One night, late, we decided to eat the stuff.  About 30 of my friends
    were ready to munch...

    "Vodka?"

    "Got it."

    "Crackers?"

    "Got 'em."

    "Mouthwash?"

    "Got it."

    "More vodka?

    "Got it."

    "All right then, we're ready!"

    Even though we opened it outside, it smelled incredibly foul. 
    Immediately all but seven people let out a howl and hit their
    respective cabins, shutting the door.  THE STUFF CLEARED OUT 23 PEOPLE
    DETERMINED TO SHOW ME THAT THE STUFF "COULDN'T BE AS BAD AS YOU
    DESCRIBE!!!"  Whoa.

    Being the instigator, I got the first bite.  I peeled a hunk off the
    fish and slapped it on a cracker (no saltine, dude, this was a real
    stone ground macho no-salt wheat cracker!!!)  and chomped it.

    After the initial shock had worn off, I realized that it tasted a lot
    like a very foul-smelling anchovy.  Not bad. Of course, I got rid of
    all my taste buds with a slug of vodka.

    One by one, we consumed the thing.  My friend Danny, who swore he'd
    never touch the stuff, couldn't stand to be left out...he took a huge
    hunk and chomped it. He thought it was good too.  My SO, who is a
    wonderful lady, also (with only mild prodding) tried it.  _That's_ love
    for ya, folks.

    Finally, we ate the whole thing.  I ate enough to claim that I ate "a
    substantial portion" of the thing, whatever that means.

    No one would let us in the cabins.  We smelled _bad_! So, we
    improvised.  Somehow, the fish had impaired the uptight parts of our
    brain, and we began to _really_ act silly!  Keeping with the spirit of
    the evening, we found a grassy knoll next to the fire and did some ring
    songs.  Being the outgoing type, I wasn't feeling wierd, but what
    surprised me were all the reserved types singing, holding hands, and
    dancing in a circle!

    My conclusion?  You gotta eat that stuff.  It's actually got a unique
    and interesting taste...not quite great, but good.

    And heck, maybe you'll act stupid like us!! It was a great time.

    Anyone got any Surstr�mming?  I wanna get together with you, dude!


    rob wuebker                                                       

	People of the Bay Area this is an opportunity of a life time!

	Treat your family or your friends to an excellent dinner.
	I have a can of surstr�mming (R�da Ulven, the real stuff) and
	the bread (tunnbr�d, ljusugnsbr�d) available for the first person
	that contacts me. Potatoes, onions and milk can be found in your
	favorite grocery store.

	Today my group and I shared a can of surstr�mming. Results:
	I had four herrings, my manager had two, three people had
	small pieces, and the rest thought we were insane to eat something
	with that smell.

	I thought I should offer to share this delicacy with the rest of you,
	since I'm going over to Sweden for Christmas and can easily buy
	more.

	ULF::LUNDQVIST or (415) 688-6843

	/ Ulf

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic        
    From: [email protected] (Peter Haegglund)
    Organization: Dept. of Scientific Computing, Uppsala Univ.
    Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1993 13:44:33 GMT
 
    I'm new to this group, and subsequently missed the first part of this
    debate. If my statements already have been said, I apologize.  But
    since the discussion touches areas very dear to me, I think people
    should know something about what they think is not food.
 
    How true. Fermented baltic herring is an old traditional  food of
    Sweden, more specific north of Sweden. During the 16th century (If I'm
    not too mistaken) the Gaevle-fishermen were short on, and it was
    expensive to buy, salt, the most efficient way to preserve food  in
    those days. Therefore they tried to make do with less salt. When they 
    opened the kegs in the autumn they could see, taste and smell that it
    wasn't like it used to. It was edible, though, and since then it has
    been eaten. 
 
    When the fishermen get into harbour they remove all the intestines and
    rinse the fish. After that they put it in large kegs ( a little like 
    making wine :-) ) with salt. After a few months they open the kegs and
    put the fish in tin cans.
 
    When the Swedes were out chopping heads etc. all over Europe, the
    fishermen were required to supply the army with fermented baltic
    herring. I don't know if it was because of that they made the enemy run
    :-) It was, BTW, the russians that invented the gas mask :-)
 
    If you don't like the aroma, you can always open the can in water. Most
    of the aroma stays in the water, then.

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    From: [email protected] (steven myers)
    Subject: Surstr�mming P.U.!
    Sender: [email protected] (News Server Project)
    Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 09:18:48 GMT
    Organization: Hewlett-Packard / Boise, Idaho
 
    	Yes, while in Pite� Sweden I had the displeasure of approaching a
    house where they had just opened a can of the junk.  I honestly thought
    that a sewer main had broken somewhere.  The closest thing that I can
    think of to compare with the stench is to take a freshly soiled diaper
    and actually wrap it around your face and inhale deeply.  Not as bad,
    but getting there. :)
 
    Steve Myers
 

    From: [email protected] (Staffan Liljegren)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Re: Surstr�mming P.U.!
    Date: 26 Jan 1993 22:15:20 GMT
    Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 
    Well here's a person born in that lovely town You visited who agrees
    100 % with Your opinion about Surstr�mming. And imagine what I had to
    experience as a kid; my folks would invite a band of lunatics, to enjoy
    "surstr�mming" and "snaps" and the next day I couldn't have breadkfast
    as everything in the fridge tasted "freshly soiled diaper". 
    
    Not pleasant at all ! And my folks even had the guts to have several
    surstr�mming parties, around the official date (in September I
    believe). I will never forgive them for leaving such scars on my
    olfactory faculties, it should be classified as a fellony :-)
 
    Luckily I survived, and I even tasted (with my nose hermetically
    closed) the stuff. And... Nothing ! I tastes nothing ! Can You believe
    that. People suffer the indescribable stench in order to be rewarded
    with a non-taste ? Incredible !
 
    Anyhow what brought You to Pite� in the first place ?
 
    /Staffan

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    From: [email protected] (Anders Engwall)
    Subject: Re: Surstr�mming
    Sender: [email protected]
    Organization: Ellemtel Telecom Systems Labs, Stockholm, Sweden
    Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1993 12:24:19 GMT
 
    [email protected] (Bob Hammarberg) must have some tolerant
    neighbours, because in article [email protected] he writes:
 
  >I have just received a tin of surstr�mming - bulging lid
 
    Yow. What vintage? (That's usually indicated with a stamp on the bottom
    of the tin)
 
  >and all - and I 
  >need to know how the stuff is properly ingested.  I know about not opening 
  >the can indoors, standing up-wind, etc,
 
    Bah. That's *wimpy*!
 
  >but are there any rituals along the 
  >line of kr�ftskiva that are to be observed?  Copious amounts of renat?
 
    Sundsvallstaffel would be more geographically correct, though perhaps a
    bit hard to find in the U.S. Absolut will do just fine otherwise. Renat
    is OK for cleaning windshields, I guess. The most important thing is of
    course that the br�nnvin *must* be non-spiced. B�sk/Sk�ne/
    Gammelnorrlands etc is a *definitive* no-no.
 
  >Do 
  >you eat the stuff out of the can, or put it on bread, or eat it with 
  >potatoes...?
 
    Ahem, *out of the can*?... May I ever so humbly suggest plate, fork and
    knife (and a glass for the br�nnvin)? Serve the fish with boiled
    potatoes and raw chopped onions and with some tunnbr�d by the side. One
    option is to make yourself a tunnbr�d roll with the fish, onion and
    potato. Yum, yum. 
 
  ---
  Anders Engwall			Email: [email protected]
  ELLEMTEL Utvecklings AB		Voice: +46 8 727 3893
  �lvsj�, Sweden			Fax: +46 8 727 42 20
  "H�ll dom, som brygger puns ock ger pyanlektionor." -- C.A. Toll�n, 1899
 

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    From: [email protected] (Bjorn Vennstrom)
    Subject: Re: surstromming
    Sender: [email protected] (News admin)
    Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 14:37:40 GMT
    Organization: Karolinska Institute, Sweden
 
 
    There is this story (I read it in a German newspaper) about the Swedish
    couple that lived in a 4-family house in Germany. They wanted to eat
    surstr�mming, got a couple cans from Sweden and enjoyed the first one.
    Due to the very strong "aroma" of the fish, their landlord asked them
    to never again open another can. Well, two weeks later they decided to
    have open a second can.  The landlord asked them to leave the
    apartment. The dispute was taken to court. The judge did not want to
    believe that anything could smell bad enough to justify an eviction,
    but asked the Swedes to bring in another can, and to open it in the
    courtroom. The Swedes were evicted at the judge's order.
 
    Take-home lesson: be careful about where and when you open the can.
 
    /bjorn
 
    Bjorn Vennstrom
    Karolinska Institute, Stockholm

   From: [email protected] (David S. Eitelbach)
   Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
   Subject: Re: Informations on surstromming
   Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 16:14:15 GMT
   Organization: Steinar Bastesen Fan Club
 
 
    When salt was in short supply or too expensive to buy, people had
    to resort to other methods of preserving perishable food, some of
    them very odd indeed. Often they stored meat and butter in whey; 
    the Vikings did this and the Icelanders still do when preparing
    one of their national dishes -- singed sheep's head. On other
    occasions, in a primitive attempt at refrigeration, they buried
    fish in the ground or left it hidden in clefts in the rocks.
    Inevitably the fish would ferment and whole villages would stink
    of it -- but the inhabitants came to consider such fermented
    fish as a delicacy. One type survives in Sweden, it is 
    "surstr�mming", sour Baltic herring, surely one of the world's
    strangest dishes and a potent expression of the saying that one
    man's meat is another man's poison.
 
    Caught in the months of May and June, the fish are immersed for a
    day in brine and then decapitated and cleaned. Next they are 
    stacked in barrels, trundled out into the summer sun and left 
    there for 24 hours to get the fermenting process started. An inch
    or two [2.5 - 5.0 cm] of space is left at the top of each barrel
    so that any gas formed during the fermentation can accumulate 
    without causing an explosion.
 
    Put into a cool storage room, the herring ferment at a slower rate.
    As they do, their aroma grows progressively stronger, and only the
    most acute nose can determine the precise point at which they are
    ready for canning.
 
    Among those who like surstr�mming best, and its fans are many, 
    there is the belief that the contents of a can left for a year at
    a temperature of 68 degrees F. [20 degrees C.] actually improve;
    the can will have begun to swell, and at its puffiest must be
    opened gingerly, like a bottle of champagne.
 
    Ripe surstr�mming is eaten with paper-thin hard bread and boiled
    potatoes, usually an almond-shaped variety that comes from the
    north. It has a sharp, cutting taste. Milk is sometimes drunk with
    it, but beer and aquavit more often accompany the dish. Some Swedes
    down it without a second thought to its smell; others, in order to
    partake of it at all, first have to rinse it in purifying soda water.
 
    Sales of surstr�mming are on the increase in Sweden, but its future
    as an export item is, predictably, grim. Although 800 cans of it
    used to be exported annually to Hollywood when a Swedish movie colony
    could still be found there, U.S. customs officials have since come to
    view it with suspicion, despite its proven non-toxicity. Moreover, 
    the product does not always travel well. Only recently a Swede found
    this out. Thinking to amaze an important New York client and the
    assembled board of directors with so bizarre a food, he produced the
    swollen can he had carried all the way from Sweden in his luggage and
    dramatically laid it on the table. At that moment, the can exploded.
 
 
-- page 21 of _The Cooking of Scandinavia_ by Dale Brown and the editors
    of Time-Life Books, 1968, (New York: Time-Life Books). LOC# 68-21587.
 
--
David S. Eitelbach
[email protected]