NationStates Jolt Archive

Seems like every society has some sort of dish that involves a long period of fermentation. In beer and wine, that usually ends up with a delicious treat. But the Swedes, like many others, insist on using ferment as a euphemism for 'rot'. This is from a travel newsletter that I get. It warns of exploding cans of rotten fish in one's baggage.


This particular fish product is extremely pungent and cans carried by
passengers have been known to leak, with rather unpleasant consequences.
We are adopting the same approach as other airlines at Stockholm and
asking customers who might be considering packing a can or two in their
luggage to just 'think about' rather than risk a 'stink about' their
fellow passengers. /

A spokesperson from British Airways on asking its passengers not to
bring aboard cans of surstromming, a Swedish dish of fermented herring.
The management of Stockholm's Arlanda airport have asked airport
shopkeepers to stop selling the delicacy. British Airways, Air France
and other major airlines have become concerned the tins could explode
mid-flight and potentially shower customers with noxious odors that
would take many days to fumigate - and creating delays or grounding of
flights. Authentically prepared surstromming, herring from the Baltic,
involves fermenting the spring caught fish for several months in a
barrel. It is then canned and left to ferment or rot for a further
year. This can cause cans to bloat. That's good -- as it creates the
noxious gases for which the dish is so renowned. However, the tins
holding the foul fish can rupture which would spew like a punctured can
of beer - especially inflight at high altitudes. The leader of the
Swedish


But the Swedes can get their digs in at the French, too.

Surstromming Academy, an organization promoting the dish nationally and
internationally, said any airline worried about exploding smelly fish
should first ban bottles of champagne and French cheese before attacking
the pride of the Swedish cuisine.

Well, I've never seen French cheese explode, and I'm not a great fan of champagne anyway, so the French win in my book, at least over rotten fish. Of course, I come from a part of the country where chitterlings are big eating, so I suppose I have little room to talk. (I've never eaten them, mind you--only smelled them.)

Well, I've never seen French cheese explode, and I'm not a great fan of champagne anyway, so the French win in my book, at least over rotten fish. Of course, I come from a part of the country where chitterlings are big eating, so I suppose I have little room to talk. (I've never eaten them, mind you--only smelled them.)
Just imagine rotten chit'lins. Disgusting.

My wife's family farmed in Alabamastan and we were treated to some of the freshest pig bowels, ever. When they're fried, they're not awful.

Just imagine rotten chit'lins. Disgusting.

My wife's family farmed in Alabamastan and we were treated to some of the freshest pig bowels, ever. When they're fried, they're not awful.
:D Not awful is hardly a ringing endorsement.

:D Not awful is hardly a ringing endorsement.
No. And I'll stand by it. Fresh, fried pig bowels don't suck.

I don't know about those Swedish fish, though. I've had lutefisk and I thought that was about the most disgusting way to prepare a herring. I think this really kicks disgusting up another notch.

Pah.

Those Swedes are amateurs.

When I was living in Iceland some years ago, I came across a dish called hákarl (pronounced 'hau-karl'), consisting of....

Well, I think I'll quote directly from a web page devoted to traditional Icelandic cuisine:

How to prepare hákarl:
Don't try this at home unless you know what the end product is supposed to taste like. Putrefied shark can become spoiled.

I read in a book that fresh shark is unsuitable for eating because there is uremic acid in the flesh. This I am inclined to believe, considering that cured shark smells like stagnant urine or ammonia. It has also been claimed that that there is cyanic acid in shark meat. Fresh shark meat is said to have caused people to vomit blood. The curing process removes the acid from the flesh and makes it easier to digest. Connoisseurs of strong cheese generally like cured shark on the first bite. Others find it to be an aquired taste...

Traditional method:
Take one large shark, gut and discard the innards, the cartilage and the head. Cut flesh into large pieces.Wash in running water to get all slime and blood off. Dig a large hole in coarse gravel, preferably down by the sea and far from the nearest inhabited house - this is to make sure the smell doesn't bother anybody. Put in the shark pieces, and press them well together. It's best to do this when the weather is fairly warm (but not hot), as it hastens the curing process. Cover with more gravel and put heavy rocks on top to press down. Leave for 6-7 weeks (in summer) to 2-3 months (in winter). During this time, fluid will drain from the shark flesh, and putrefication will set in.

When the shark is soft and smells like ammonia, remove from the gravel, wash, and hang in a drying shack. This is a shack or shed with plenty of holes to let the wind in, but enough shade to prevent the sun from shining directly on the shark. Let it hang until it is firm and fairly dry: 2-4 months. Warm, windy and dry weather will hasten the process, while cold, damp and still weather will delay it.

Slice off the brown crust, cut the whitish flesh into small pieces and serve, preferably with a shot of ice-cold brennivín.

Note - brennivín is an Icelandic potato schnapps colloquially known as 'black death', and once described as the 'nastiest most foul tasting liquor on the face of the planet'. The relevant wiki article reads 'Despite its unofficial status as national beverage, many Icelanders do not actually drink it, and a majority of the ones who do, drink it only when feeling patriotic or when trying to impress foreign visitors.


Yum!

I understand that puffin can be prepared in a similar manner, but I can't confirm it.

And I thought that balut was pretty disgusting. West Pac islands have not yet begun to approach the level of 'yuck' that the Scandinavians have found.

I don't think I'll be queueing up to try any.


I have to disagree about fresh shark being inedible. It's widely eaten in Australia. If you go into a fish & chip shop in Melbourne (or Victoria wide for that matter) the standard fish you get is shark. It's usually known as Flake & it's pretty good.

I don't think I'll be queueing up to try any.


I have to disagree about fresh shark being inedible. It's widely eaten in Australia. If you go into a fish & chip shop in Melbourne (or Victoria wide for that matter) the standard fish you get is shark. It's usually known as Flake & it's pretty good.

Yep, shark's tasty.

I've never actually tried surströmming, and I don't intend to. I dislike most fish even when it's fresh. I like just about all other Swedish "traditional" foods, however.

Cuisine

How can one NOT like Champagne? Poor misled fools. :p