哥德堡群岛的岸边，瑞典 Island of Källö-Knippla in the archipelago of Gothenburg, Sweden (© Martin Wahlborg/Getty Images)

哥德堡群岛的岸边，瑞典 Island of Källö-Knippla in the archipelago of Gothenburg, Sweden (© Martin Wahlborg/Getty Images)

世界最臭食物之乡？ Home of the 'world's worst smelling food'?

Surströmming Day

Get your clothespins ready, it's Surströmming Day! For the uninitiated, that means we're in Sweden and cracking open this year's surströmming harvest to enjoy its putrid wonder. Surströmming is Baltic herring that's been caught in April and May, then lightly salted and allowed to ferment. Beginning in the 1940s, a royal ordinance forbade the selling of Surströmming before the third Thursday in August to prevent incompletely fermented fish from being sold. The ordinance is no longer on the books, but the tradition holds.

Swedes indulge in pickled herring from bloated cans that most insist should be opened outside and preferably underwater. That's the recommended way to alleviate the stench from what some call 'the world's worst smelling food.' You may have seen popular 'challenge' videos of people trying to brave the experience and failing miserably. That's part of the fun, even if those videos are not the best representations of a true surströmming feast.

In today's photo, we're visiting a small fishing village on the island of Källö-Knippla in Gothenburg's northern archipelago. People there today might enjoy some surströmming on top of tunnbröd flatbread. It's common to then cover it in red onions, sour cream, and dill and then wash it all down with a shot of booze, a beer, or even milk. The taste is said to be very sharp, savory, and even acidic. That is, if you can keep it down. One food critic famously said that 'the biggest challenge when eating surströmming is to vomit only after the first bite, as opposed to before.'

酸鲱鱼日

准备好你的衣夹，今天是狂欢节！对于外行来说，这意味着我们在瑞典，打开今年的酸鲱鱼丰收，享受它腐烂的奇迹。酸鲱鱼是一种波罗的海鲱鱼，在4月和5月捕捞，然后轻轻腌制并发酵。从20世纪40年代开始，一项皇家法令禁止在8月的第三个星期四之前出售酸鲱鱼，以防止出售未完全发酵的鱼。这项法令已不再载入史册，但传统依然存在。

瑞典人沉迷于用膨胀的罐头腌制鲱鱼，大多数人坚持认为应该在室外打开，最好在水下打开。这是缓解被称为“世界上最难闻食物”的臭味的推荐方法你可能看过流行的“挑战”视频，视频中人们试图勇敢地面对这一经历，却惨遭失败。这是乐趣的一部分，即使这些视频不是真正的酸鲱鱼盛宴的最佳表现。

在今天的照片中，我们参观了哥德堡北部群岛Källö-Knippla岛上的一个小渔村。今天在那里的人们可能会喜欢在tunnbröd flatbread上吃些苏斯特罗姆面包。然后用红洋葱、酸奶油和莳萝将其覆盖，然后用一杯酒、一杯啤酒甚至牛奶将其冲洗干净，这是很常见的。据说它的味道非常尖锐、可口，甚至呈酸性。也就是说，如果你能控制住它。一位美食评论家有一句名言：“吃苏斯特罗姆食物时最大的挑战是只在第一口之后呕吐，而不是之前。”