Surströmming or Sour Herring in Sweden 2025

"No one eats the Surströmming for fun," says the official tourism website of Sweden. It is a fermented small Baltic herring that is packed in hermetically sealed tins a month before you ought to eat it. Sealing the tin does not stop the fermentation and in time, the tins swell on top and underneath the lid. It should be opened only under water due to considerable pressure that builds up in the tin and also preferably outdoors as the smell is extremely strong. However, think twice before you eat it outside, since the same smell that disgusts human beings attracts flies.

The eating premiere usually occurs after the third Thursday in August, known as Surströmming Day, until early September, and main manufacturers are based traditionally along the northern coast of Sweden. The taste is sharp, savoury, and very spicy. The traditional way of eating the herring is to have it wrapped in a thin bread called klämma with butter and almond shaped potatoes and chopped onion, altogether called surströmmingsklämma. Definitely,​ a taste to remember!