this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
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Thank you!! I've copied this down and put it in my notepad of travel tips. If I'm going to Sweden, I will try all of the foods! Except maybe surströmming. I have a pretty strong gut and smells don't usually bother me, but I have seen so many videos online, and I feel like they're over exaggerating for the views.. But maybe I am underestimating it. 🥲
Surströmming is an interesting case. Most of the country does not eat it, and it's not the kind of thing you usually go pick up in a restaurant - eating Surströmming is an occasion, one that warrants a special feast that you arrange at home and invite friends and family to.
Most of the videos online (intentionally) eat it wrong. Don't open cans indoors, don't drink the liquid and don't eat the fish themselves without anything accompanying them.
To eat surströmming properly, you want to first open the fish and clean out the bones, then make them one component in a flatbread sandwich (hard flatbread is traditional) along with butter, potatoes, chopped red onions, sour cream, and chives. They should then be accompanied by large quantities of snaps, hard liquor consumed as shots.
Surströmming is kind of like fish sauce - the production method is similar, they both smell kind of wild, and taste very different from what they smell. I also think they serve similar culinary functions - surströmming is in my opinion best thought of as a condiment adding interesting flavours to the dish they are used in.
The smell is ghastly though. I was not a fan of the Surströmming parties my parents hosted as a kid, and tried my best to stay clear those days.
That's really interesting, thanks for sharing! If it's something sort of kind of similar to fish sauce, then it might be too bad for me. I would love to try, but I couldn't commit to buying one for myself because I'd hate for it to go to waste if I didn't like it. I'd feel awful. :(
Maybe I'll save it for when I get invited to an event, haha. My best guess that it adds a strong savoury flavour? I'm thinking the Aussie equivalent is Vegemite where a little goes a long way.
Savoury, funky, sour, fermenty. It's a pretty complex flavour.
You're not expected to buy at and try alone, and the chances of getting an invite to such a party are pretty slim, all things considered - this is only really consumed in a specific region of the north, moreso by the older generations than the younger ones.
It's far from a must-try experience, though. You can rest easily having made peace with never trying it.
In that case.. I'll settle for not trying it. Thank you for teaching me a few things! Always open to learning about other cultures through food. 😊