The moment the can opened, the smell hit
It must have seemed like a good idea at the time.
An American fan of the video sharing website Liveleak asked a fellow member, based in Finland, to send him a can of a traditional Scandinavian delicacy, surstromming.
In case you’re wondering, that’s fermented herring. And according to Japanese scientists, surstromming has one of the most putrid food smells in the world. That’s why it’s normally eaten outdoors, as this group of men, and a boy, from Andrews, Texas, found to their cost. (WARNING: Contains VERY STRONG LANGUAGE).
The Texans, armed with a gigantic bag of blue chips, bravely open the can, sent by Liveleak user Louhe-87 from Finland – and within seconds of opening the fish, the Americans find that the Japanese scientists were not kidding about the smell.
The results, as the appalling odor of rotten herring spew out, are hilarious.
The herring are traditionally caught in April and May and then fermented in brine until July when the canned fish, by now thoroughly stinking, is released for sale. It’s a huge shopping and cultural event – similar to the release of Beaujolais Nouveau in France – in countries such as Finland, Norway and Sweden, where surstromming is considered a delicacy.
