Airlines raise a stink over fermented herring

Surstromming, the highly pungent but much loved Swedish dish of fermented herring, has a habit of offending the uninitiated with its peculiar taste and overpowering smell of rotten garbage.

But now the national favourite, traditionally devoured in the summer months with large quantities of highly alcoholic liquor, has fallen foul of the airline industry who have asked passengers not to take it on board, saying it poses a safety risk.

Much to the chagrin of local producers, shops at Stockholm's Arlanda airport were asked to stop selling the notorious delicacy after airlines, including British Airways and Air France, became concerned the tins could explode midflight and potentially shower customers with noxious odours that would take many days to fumigate.

Jan Lindqvist, head of corporate communications at Arlanda airport, said the decision to remove surstromming from the shelves was a purely practical one.

"It's nothing to do with terrorists," he said.

"We're not saying Bin Laden is going to start using surstromming as a weapon or anything but it is a practical consideration for the airlines."

Airlines are worried that the swollen tins of fermented fish are particularly vulnerable in the air because of pressure changes during take off and landing.

In order to make authentic surstromming, herring from the Baltic is usually caught in the spring and fermented in barrels for a number of months.

It is then placed in tins and left to ferment for a further year, bloating the container and creating the noxious gases for which the dish is so renowned.

"The cans swell up like a football." said Lindqvist

"If it breaks inside a plane it would take two of three days to clean out the aircraft and the airlines don't want to have to ground their flights."

The decision to remove the pride of Swedish cuisine from Arlanda airport has angered producers of the dish who have called the move "culturally illiterate."

Swedes are renowned for their love of pickled sea life, particularly during the long summer months where tonnes of crayfish and pickled herring are quaffed with equally large quantities of schnapps.

But no dish is as unforgettable as the foul smelling surstromming, which rivals Southeast Asia's durian fruit and Iceland's famous buried shark in the questionable foodstuffs category.

Historians believe the origins of surstromming lie somewhere in the 17th and 18th centuries as Sweden embarked on expanding its northern European empire and needed to keep troops fed with their favourite fish far from home.

Traditionally, surstromming is served straight from the tin on thin, crisp barley bread with boiled new potatoes, chopped onion and sour cream and washed down either with milk or the potent liquor aquavit.

But despite surstromming's long cultural heritage, not all Swedes are sold on the idea of the rotten smelling fish.

Mathias Tornblom, a self-confessed surstromming lover from Stockholm, admits many Swedes find the smell overpowering.

"It does smell like hell but it's really rather tasty when you try it," he said.

He also conceded it was unlikely Swedes would be protesting on mass about the airport ban

"A lot of Swedes don't like it, to be honest. It's very popular in the north but the majority haven't even tasted it."

A British Airways spokesman said yesterday that while it had not banned surstromming outright, it would be asking customers to think twice about bringing the swollen tins of fermented fish back home.

"This particular fish product is extremely pungent and cans carried by passengers have been known to leak, with rather unpleasant consequences," he said.

"We are adopting the same approach as other airlines at Stockholm and asking customers who might be considering packing a can or two in their luggage to just 'think about' rather than risk a 'stink about' their fellow passengers."

- INDEPENDENT