Sampling Sweden’s Traditional Surströmming

For our Geo Quiz – we’re looking for a small Swedish town up along the country’s Baltic Sea coast. It’s roughly at the same latitude as Helsinki.

This farming community marks the end of the summer season with a local banquet. There’s no succulent duck or barbecued chicken on the menu, not even Swedish meatballs.

Instead they serve up a notoriously, smelly fish called surströmming.

“Surströmming is herring that’s put into barrels until the point it almost starts to rot, and it smells terribly but the taste is pretty special,” says Swedish Wall Street Journal Reporter Sven Grundberg.

Can you name this Swedish town where you’re either enjoying a plate of the traditional surströmming, or pinching your nose to avoid breathing in the notoriously smelly fish odor?

The tradition of eating the salty, sour herring goes back centuries and reminds many Swedes of their heritage. The tradition is celebrated every summer in Alfta, Sweden, the answer to our Geo Quiz.