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May 26, 2012
Sweden in plea to save stinky fermented herring
Published: 23 Jun 10 07:46 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/27396/20100623/
Sweden's agriculture minister Eskil Erlandsson pleaded with the EU's health and consumer policy commissioner on Tuesday to save one of the country's most loved - and loathed - delicacies: stinky fermented herring.
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Surströmming, or fermented Baltic herring, falls under the exemption but it is only valid until the end of 2011, leading Erlandsson to plead the case with visiting EU commissioner John Dalli.
"He informed the commissioner about the importance of surstroemming for our cultural heritage in Sweden and how important it is that we continue to produce it," Erlandsson's spokeswoman Sofia Jöngren told AFP.
Asked whether Dalli had tried the traditional delicacy known for its pungent odour, Erlandsson replied, according to the Swedish TT news agency: "His colleague recommended him not to do it."
Surströmming is a dish best served cold and is popular in some parts of northern Sweden. It is sold in bulging cans due to the continued fermentation and when opened gives off a pungent smell.
The delicacy is regularly a bone of contention among urban neighbours and is thus usual reserved for consumption in the open air and typically as a crisp bread sandwich buried under heaps of sour cream, onion and potatoes in order to disguise the acquired taste.
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The EU should stretch the rules a bit in these matters, but not if the horrible fishy stuff fills cancer hospitals.
Normally I support a countries right to maintain its culture, but in this case, if it isdangerous, it should be stopped.
It tasted GOOD (though it does have a nasty smell), and given the chance, I would gladly eat it again.
Note that even though I enjoyed surströmming, I will NOT eat lutfisk.
But let's allow individual Swedish families decide if they will or will not eat surströmming (with or without the dioxin). No reason for the EU to involve itself in such decisions. If dioxin is really an issue, then slap a cigaret-style warning label on each one of those bulging cans.
And consider this - long after Systemet is gone, we will still have public-owned alcohol monopolies in many (not all, but many) U.S. states.