Discussion: Torsdag

Traditionellt har surströmmingspremiären i Sverige varit den tredje torsdagen i augusti. Numera finns det dock inget i lag fastställt datum för surströmmingspremiären, men många tillverkare försöker hålla fast vi den tredje torsdagen i augusti som premiärdatum. År 2020 blir det torsdag 20 augusti.

I hope when you talked with the surgeon yesterday you discussed eating Surstromming tomorrow.

I celebrated with an alternative Surstromming dinner, consisting of a homemade cheese calzone. It was quite delicious, and the only fermentation required was the preparation of the dough.

I can heartily recommend this alternative to anyone who does not have ready access to Surstromming, or for the very, very few who might have access, but who don't actually relish Surstromming.

Surströmming pizza, whaddya think? A step beyond mere anchovies.

I'm not relating. It's like taking a perfectly good hamburger and smearing mayonnaise on it. Why would you do it? And from my sampling of pizza places in Sweden last summer, you could travel far and wide without finding a place that would offer surstromming. Think about that. There's probably a good reason for it.

Think about that.

OK, let's think about it.

Were you in Sweden last summer on the 3rd Thursday in August? Nope. Would pizza places put surstromming pizzas on the regular menu if they weren't available year round? Nope, they'ed be a special. So what are the odds that when that Thursday rolled around last summer almost every pizza place in Sweden was offering one? Pretty darn good, I'd guess.

Pics or it didn't happen:

'It’s on rye bread with a dill and tomato sauce and topped with surströmming, boiled potatoes, dill, tomatoes and onion. It’s decorated with lingonberries."

The way to figure out if you could get surstromming pizza is to check Samantha's log. Clearly, she'd note that she ate surstromming pizza yesterday. I checked her log and there's no indication that she ate surstromming pizza. So surstromming pizza must not be a thing. Of course there are other options. Like maybe she doesn't really live in Sweden.

I am pretty sure that each of you, if offered surstromming for dinner or something else, you would choose something else. There is a reason why McDonalds does not feature surstromming on the menu.

McDonald's had lobster rolls a couple of years ago. You never know.

Doesn't matter what Swampfox says, JJ and his photo win.

What if the choice was stepping on a honey locust thorn in your bare feet or eating surstromming?

@JJ: taking out a piece of flat bread and throwing a bunch of stuff on it and calling it pizza doesn't make it pizza. That wouldn't fool anyone. If a classic pizzeria tried serving that, there would be rioting and heads would roll.

Fish heads.

On August 3 last year, Cafe Victoria was NOT serving any fermented fish, atop pizza, plate or bread.

The fact that surströmming isn't mentioned in Sam's log is no proof she didn't have some. Very few of us actually log what we eat (or not) unless it comes to beans.

Thinking back of my time in Sweden. I believe I ate surstromming 3 times. But never as a pizza topping.

PS. Another Swedish tradition - definitely tastier - is the yearly crayfish party /kräftskiva/ which we will have tonight. We're lucky enough to have access to our own lake for fishing so that's what we were doing last night.
We're not following the full 'protocol' though, funny hats and booze will be absent.

I'll bet if you forbade alcohol consumption with surstromming, surstromming would quickly disappear, and not be missed. Even the traditionalists would admit it was a waste of perfectly good herring.

It's like the mapping of undersized, deteriorated rootstocks. If mappers would stop doing that, nobody would miss those features, and the world would be a happier place.

I've never been anywhere near surströmming, but my mother used to make sill for her brother every Christmas. One year my cousin and I dared to try it.

It's not August 3rd, Jeff. It's the third Thursday in August.