Surströmmingfest in Karlstad, Sweden

In Karlstad for a surströmmingfest.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & , JE Nilsson 2024

Surströmming: A Traditional Swedish Delicacy

Surströmming is a traditional Swedish delicacy made from Baltic herring that undergoes fermentation. The word surströmming is derived from “sur” (meaning sour or acidic) and “strömming” (the local term for Baltic herring). Historically, this process was a practical solution for preserving fish with minimal salt, particularly during times when salt was scarce. It originated from the need for efficient food preservation before refrigeration existed, making it an essential staple in Swedish households.

Strategic with the use of a kitchen towel as cover.

The Production Process

The production process involves catching Baltic herring just before spawning in early summer, lightly salting them, and fermenting the fish in barrels for several weeks. After the initial fermentation, the herring are canned, and the fermentation continues in the sealed container. This creates gases, resulting in the characteristic bulging of the can—a hallmark of surströmming and the source of its infamous odor, caused by compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, butyric acid, and propionic acid.

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Christmas Dining in the Bay of the North Sea, Sweden






By the fireplace at Långedrags Värdshus

By the fireplace at Långedrags Värdshus, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro, JE Nilsson 2023

What I find mildly amusing for julbord experience is how I often playfully break the traditional Swedish julbord dining rules. While a typical julbord is savored in a specific order, starting from cold dishes to warm ones and finally to desserts, I slightly revel in mixing all my dishes according to whim. This unorthodox approach might raise eyebrows among julbord purists, but thankfully, my friends, with whom I’ve shared many a traditional Swedish julbord, have always been patient and indulgent towards my culinary quirks. Whether it’s starting with a sweet treat or mixing savory and sweet in one plate, they understand and even appreciate my guilty pleasure of having whatever I want to eat, in whichever order I desire. This liberty to choose, to mix and match, adds an extra layer of joy to the already delightful julbord experience at Långedrags Värdshus.

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Sea to table: Salmon from the Faroe Islands, Denmark

Salmon from Hiddenfjörd, Faroe Islands, Denmark, topped with a sliver of dill from our garden.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & , JE Nilsson 2023

It’s been a while since I’ve delved deep into the origins of the fish gracing my dinner plate. Just a few days ago, I found myself at a bustling fish wagon in west central Gothenburg, pondering my choices for the upcoming meals. The seller, noticing my indecision, pointed to a luscious-looking salmon fillet, revealing its origins from the Faroe Islands.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, has seen exponential growth over the past few decades, making it the fastest-growing sector in the global food industry. Between 1980 and 2016, the industry witnessed an average annual growth rate of 8.2 percent, and from 2000 to 2016, it was 5.8 percent [1]. Salmon, in particular, has been a standout, showcasing significant growth.

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Grilled duck breasts with Peking Duck marinade: A Scandinavian summer grilling adventure

Evening grill at Strysö Sweden 2023
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & , JE Nilsson 2023

Even during the cooler Nordic summers when temperatures occasionally dip to 5°C, the lure of the grill remains irresistible. With the lingering twilight offering extended hours of daylight, every moment is an opportunity to ignite the grill and dive into a world of tantalizing tastes. Recently, we embarked on a delectable culinary expedition, blending four distinct recipes to create a sumptuous grilled duck breast dish with a Peking Duck marinade.

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A spring madeleine de Proust with Scottish shortbread

An Easter bake of shortbread biscuit topped with vanilla custard and blueberries.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & , JE Nilsson 2023

My mother used to love Scottish shortbread when she was in her teens and early twenties, and it is still a convenient off-the-shelf item that can be bought in almost any grocery store in Singapore today. Her love for shortbread biscuits meant that I had plenty of them growing up, and I grew to love them for their rich flavor and crumbly texture. I would often eat them on their own, even if there was tea served alongside.

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Vörtbröd Jul2022 Styrsö SE

The weekend bake, vörtbröd, at Styrsö Sweden, 2022
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & JE Nilsson 2022

Just out of the oven warm.

It’s been some years since we last baked our own Swedish Christmas vörtbröd. I love bread baking but I’ve often found this dough difficult to work with because of the delicate combination of sticky molasses and dark ale. There are variations to the recipe that can be found online, so it’s easy to tweak to make your own favourite version of vörtbröd.

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Lussekatter AW2022 Styrsö SE

The weekend bake, lussekatter, revisiting our own a recipe from 2012 at Styrsö Sweden, 2022
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & JE Nilsson 2022

I saw the boundaries of festive periods, often indicated by the appearance of certain foods, dissolve when I recently walked into a grocery shop along the Swedish west coast, and found a luscious twin pack of semlor (a specific February treat), in mid-November. The appearance of a Shrove Tuesday food appearing just past All Saints took us by surprise, and it took us all of two seconds to grab that purchase. It seems the semla is the new Swedish preserved herring, soon to be eaten year round at all Swedish festivities, so we’ll roll with that.

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Easter treats, Swedish west coast 2022

Red cabbage Easter egg dye that renders Danila teal blue eggs.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & JE Nilsson 2022

I love colored eggs. In Asian tradition, red dyed hard boiled eggs would be seen at month-old baby celebrations and birthdays. As a child growing up in Singapore, I more loved looking at the red eggs sitting in a pile than eating them. The other festive occasion where colorfully painted hard boiled eggs would make an appearance was at Easter. A memorable childhood event held in the convent in which I grew up, was the annual Easter egg hunt in the school garden. The decorative hard boiled eggs looked so cheery and bright that having found one such egg in that large school garden was a prize in itself. Chocolate Easter eggs the size of my little girl head came in the later years of my childhood, and those were seen wrapped in shiny tin foils and placed on the kitchen table from my parents, for the unwrapping, and eating.

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Visiting Arctic Roe of Scandinavia, for a taste of sustainable luxury, Småland, Sweden 2021

Swedish black caviar by Arctic Roe of Scandinavia, AROS, Småland, Sweden. This black caviar comes from the Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser Baerii, in the family Acipenseridae.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & JE Nilsson 2021

A two-hour drive from the city of Gothenburg took us to Strömnäsbruk in the beautiful region of Småland. I was curious to visit AROS (Arctic Roe of Scandinavia), one of two producers in Sweden of sturgeon black caviar.

Strömnäsbruk is one of many small industrial villages that would be all but forgotten today as watermills went out of fashion for powering up workshops and industries if it wasn’t for creative entrepreneurs. In this case, the robust building of a former paper mill has been repurposed towards rearing Siberian sturgeons in a humane and ecologically sustainable manner. The product is black caviar or the black gold of the Caspian sea, that has all but driven wild sturgeons to extinction.

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