What does "Surströmming" smell like?
I have never tried the Swedish dish 'Surströmming' (fermented herring). People usually say it smells horrible, but tastes good. Can you describe the smell and relate it to a similar smell?
5 Answers
It smells like what it is: decomposition. Or, in plain language: like a rotting corpse.
Back in secondary school, I had a Biology teacher who would do an experiment when teaching about proteins and amino acids. He would bring some fresh herring and a can of surströmming to the class room. He would then proceed to heat up a regular cast iron frying pan, and fry the fresh herring, showing how proteins coagulate when heated.
Then, he would open the can of surströmming, and toss a couple of fillets in the frying pan. Since all the proteins in surströmming have been broken down to their basic amino acids, it did not coagulate. The stench, however, was absolutely horrible. It was so bad that the entire school building (an old four-story brick edifice) had to be evacuated. All us students would get an extra hour's break.
The same thing happened every year, and was considered something of a tradition.
Back in secondary school, I had a Biology teacher who would do an experiment when teaching about proteins and amino acids. He would bring some fresh herring and a can of surströmming to the class room. He would then proceed to heat up a regular cast iron frying pan, and fry the fresh herring, showing how proteins coagulate when heated.
Then, he would open the can of surströmming, and toss a couple of fillets in the frying pan. Since all the proteins in surströmming have been broken down to their basic amino acids, it did not coagulate. The stench, however, was absolutely horrible. It was so bad that the entire school building (an old four-story brick edifice) had to be evacuated. All us students would get an extra hour's break.
The same thing happened every year, and was considered something of a tradition.
when i smelled it the first time (and last time), i couldn't believe my nose! i mean it is so disgusting that changes your perception of Smell as a concept. you would understand that actually someone might be killed just by smell! it is really strange.. of course i might be a bit exaggerating, but still, i can't believe something that horrible being produced, packed and sold ,,, and bought!
