Fishing festivals, 19 Aug 2027
Surströmming premiere
The third Thursday of August, when Swedes open the first cans of the year's fermented Baltic herring.
Surströmming is Baltic herring caught in spring, lightly salted and left to ferment, then canned, where it goes on fermenting until the cans bulge. Its smell is famously strong, and it is usually eaten outdoors, on thin flatbread with potatoes and onion. A Swedish rule once banned sales before the third Thursday in August, and though the rule is long gone, that day is still the premiere, especially in Norrland on the northern coast. The herring of the Baltic is a small, lean form of the Atlantic herring.
Still to be written: Atlantic herring.