I don’t doubt that all countries have their own dreaded delicacies – insects, strange entrails and pieces of meat in various stages of decay. Here in Sweden it is the notorious sour herring [Surströmming]

Now I hasten to add I have never eaten Surströmming, nor has anyone I know, because the dish has a certain reputation.  While sour herring is a Swedish tradition, it is also fair to say that those who eat it do so because they like the taste. No-one eats it for fun.

The dish is made from the small Baltic herring, which is caught in the spring, salted and ‘soured’ [by this they mean left to rot and ferment], according to a time-honoured process. About a month before it is due on the table, it is packed in hermetically sealed tins, but fermentation continues, and in time the tins swell, both on top and underneath. The tins are under such pressure that they have been banned on certain airlines as they have a tendency to explode.

As considerable pressure has built up in the tin, it is a good idea to open the tins under water. You then wash the herring before serving it. The tin should also be opened outdoors but its contents are best eaten indoors as the smell of rotting fish attracts flies. Enthusiasts love this smell while newcomers reel back in shock. I am assured that a well-prepared fermented herring doesn’t taste the way it smells on the contrary the taste is simultaneously rounded and sharp, spicy and savoury. Accoutrements are needed, however, to maintain a balance.

I was going to try this notorious dish, but having seen this YouTube video of a young guy attempting to eat it, I changed my mind. If this video is accurate and I have no reason to believe his reaction or the opinions of the Swedes he are faked in any way I think I had a narrow escape.