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Vice Blog

SCANDINAVIA - FOOD FESTER

Swedish supplies of this year's batch of fermented baltic herring are running out. Anyone who doesn't wanna miss out on some raw fish that has been left to fester in piss for a year (no joke), you better book a table quick!

Pics: A guide to eating rotten herring


Höga Kusten got good ratings last year. Now is a good time to get rid of any unopened 2005 jars, otherwise they'll explode.


Clockwise from left, Höga Kusten fermented herring, sour cream, red onions, caraway cheese, soured milk, aquavit (water of life).

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Cut the suckers through the stomach (don't spill the roe, that stuff is sweet), put them flat on their backs and rip the spines out with your fork. Now you're ready to go.


It's called "line aquavit" because it passes the equator while it's being matured, and you shouldn't hold back on it.


Booze, potatoes boiled in dill, and crisp bread are essential to the raw, rotten herring experience. No matter how hardcore you are, you need to dilute. My granddad had 14 fermented herrings the first time he tried them. He puked like a fox and hasn't been able to eat them since.