Surstroming

Surströmming consists of the words sur and strömming , and sur - "sour", "pickled" - comes from pragermas. * sūraz - “sour” and related to it. sauer sour and so on. ^[1] , and strömming translated from Swedish means " Baltic herring ".

Fermentation of products is a long-known method of canning . In the 16th century, during the hostilities waged by the Swedish king Gustav I Vasa with the German city of Lübeck , a shortage of salt was created . In this regard, the herring was salted with less salt, which disrupted the normal canning process, and the product began to ferment. In an atmosphere of war and famine, fermented herring began to be eaten. To everyone's surprise, to her taste she did not at all resemble rotten meat, and someone even liked her sour taste. The fish is not rotten, but “sour”. There were rumors about a new dish, and since salt was not cheap even in peacetime, in northern Sweden, where it was not easy to get fresh food, the poor fermented herring became a common method of preserving it.

Herring is caught in April, before spawning. The head and entrails are removed, but caviar is left for taste. Herring is put in barrels with caustic brine for several days to remove blood and fat. Then the fish is transferred to barrels with less concentrated brine, where it softens and sour for about another two months. In July, it is closed in banks and put in a cold place. The quality of the final product is determined by the concentration of brine and the temperature at which the barrels are stored. The fish continues to sour even after it is closed in jars. Therefore, when trying to open it, without observing safety precautions, the juice, under the action of the accumulated pressure in the jar, can sprinkle everything around. To avoid this, the jar is usually opened on the street or lowered into the water.

Technology

The cleaned Baltic herring is salted , placed in an open dish and left for fermentation . During this process, the product’s own enzymes and bacteria form, among others, propionic acid , butyric acid and acetic acid , as well as hydrogen sulfide . Then the herring is placed in cans for further fermentation.

Surströmming, like sour fish, always had a pungent smell. At the end of the 19th century, the author of one cookbook mockingly wrote: “They (lovers) find it a most exquisite delicacy, but they will serve it at a banquet only if the owner wants to eat alone or, perhaps, will invite guests without a nose.” Surströmming, despite the smell, is served today at banquets and is considered an exquisite delicacy . Usually it is not eaten every day. Fish has become popular throughout Sweden, although the High Coast , on the north-eastern coast of Sweden, is still considered the center of surstroming.

Real connoisseurs eat surstrumming without anything, right from the can. Surströmming has a salty taste and emits a sharp unpleasant odor. Swedes eat surstrumming with boiled potatoes , tomatoes , raw onions or bread and butter . Also, surströmming can be used to make sandwiches . The most common drinks used with surströmming: beer , schnapps , milk or the Swedish analogue of kvass - yulmust . Some gourmets seize fish with lingonberries and drink milk. But most often the fish is placed on bread and butter, sprinkled with finely chopped onions; preferably with cold beer or schnapps.

• For a long time, a royal decree was in force in Sweden, according to which the first surstroming of the year could not be put on the shelves until the third Thursday of August. In 1998, the decree was canceled, and now you can trade surstromming all year round. However, at the request of the public, for fans of surströming, the third Thursday of August is still one of the biggest holidays of the year.
• In April 2006, some major airlines, such as Air France and British Airways , banned the carriage of canned surstrumming, explaining this by the potential “explosion hazard” of cans. As a result, product sales were halted at Stockholm Arlanda Airport .
• Komi-Zyryans made a similar dish from river fish, the name "Pechora salted" from an old recipe. Almost everywhere in Komi, fish certainly entered the diet. She was used for cooking fish soup (yukva), ate boiled. The fish was dried and dried, but very rarely fried. It was salted quite a bit, since salt was expensive and was more often used by industrialists to supply fish to the market. In winter, it was stored on ice or lowered into deep wells. In summer, reindeer herders dug holes in the tundra to permafrost, and barrels of fish were lowered there. A special method of cooking fish was more often observed in the middle Pechora, therefore it was called "Pechora salting." In this case, the fish was slightly salted, put into barrels and left in a warm place, usually in a bathhouse. Fish fermented and acquired a strong and pungent odor. Fermented fish was eaten with spoons.

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• Portal: Surstromming.se - Your guide in the world of Surstromming
• Shepsmalm Surstroming Museum (Sweden)
• Impressions of eating (in Russian)