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Eskil Erlandsson |
THE old saying "Don't Cry Stinking Fish" has taken on a whole new meaning in Sweden.
The country is contesting an European Union attempt to ban a national 'delicacy' made of fermented herrings called Surstroemming. The dish is is so smelly, it has to be eaten outside. Now the EU has stepped in claiming it might be unsafe due to high dioxin levels in the Baltic Sea where the fish is caught.
Icenews says Sweden’s agriculture minister Eskil Erlandsson has pleaded with the EU’s consumer and health protection commissioner John Dalli to save the much-loved food stuff. It is currently produced in Finland and Sweden under an exemption to rules against the sale of fatty fish from the Baltic.
According to the commissioner, Mr Dalli politely declined to taste the Surstroemming dish after being warned by Swedish colleagues that it is an acquired taste, even for Swedes.
“A Swedish official recommended that he didn’t take up the offer. Apparently if opened indoors whole buildings can be filled with the stink and the place would need to be evacuated,” said an official.
Surstroemming is a popular dish in northern Sweden and is normally served cold. According to the Telegraph, cans of the fish bulge due to gas pressure inside, and once opened the smell is particularly intense.
The dish is normally served as a sandwich with sour cream, onion and potatoes and is nearly always eaten outdoors. “People who delight in eating rotten fish probably do not care much if there are high pollution levels in the Baltic herrings that it is made from,” said an official
Sweden is not the only country with a fish dish that might cause a bit of a stink inside the EU. Iceland has hakari, a putrefied shark meat that has been buried for six months to ensure sufficient decomposition. Norway has Raake Orret which is freshwater trout and stored in water and left in Norwegian garages for months where it gets quite high.
Should fisheries be closed during breeding time to allow stocks to reach more sustainable levels?
