Ossigeno

91 90 i n f e r m e n t o i n f e r m e n t If hàkarl perhaps represents the biggest gemstone set in the crown of the Scandinavian fermented foods, other ones are no less precious. Surströmming is another son of the far North-European populations’ adaptability. The term combines the lemma sur , acid, and strømming , noun by which Swedes call the Baltic herring. Surströmming originates from the concept of using the least amount of salt to conserve as much fish as possible, thus becoming popular in times when salt was scarce and far too expensive, as it was in the first half of the sixteenth century. Process starts with the immersion of herrings for one or two days in a saline solution, proceeding with the elimination of scrap parts and its immersion in a low salt brine. Stored in barrels during a period lasting from three to four weeks, herrings are here subjected to fermentation. Anaerobic processes of production of microbial flora, butyric, propionic and acetic flora, as well as gases, are triggered. Canning for its distribution does not stop the fermentation process, which can go on for up to sixmonths, causing in the cans the characteristic deformations of their surface. To open one of these micro-galaxies of bacteria in order to consume its content is, as for the hákarl, an act of courage that is good to put into practice only outdoors. The memorable bouquet produced by the bacteria is a combination of a pungent smell head note [propionic acid], a heart note of rotten eggs [hydrogen sulphide] and base notes of rancid butter [burritic acid] and vinegar [acetic acid]. Once the olfactory obstacle is overcome, surströmming can be consumed according to local usage in the so-called surströmmingsklämma , a sandwich made of Swedish tunnbröd bread with vegetables, sour cream and butter. chapter II: swedish surströmming Third chapter of the Scandinavian trilogy is represented by the Norwegian national dish – known at least from 14th century, when it was mentioned in an ancient missive – which takes the name of rakfisk [from the archaic Norwegian rakr , indicating what is wet, and fisk , fish]. Although rakfisk can boast its birth so far in time, it is not a culinary fossil. Typical of internal Norway, this product is widely consumed by local people and, in recent years, its production has significantly increased, despite its taste prevents a wide diffusion outside of the Country. This time, freshwater creatures sacrificed on the altar of Nordic fermentation are lake trout and, more rarely, Salvelinus alpinus . Eviscerated and stratified belly-up after a delicate salting [4-6%] in narrow containers, salmonids ferment for a period that goes from three to twelve months. During the fermentation process, microorganisms start to compose a complex symphony of smells. Concert begins at the opening of the can. Like the other far North- Europe delicatessen , also for rakfisk it is strongly recommended that this operation could take place outdoors. In fact, notes of this product seem to insistently reverberate for several days if played indoor. Rakfisk neophytes – and not just them – testify a long persistence of its taste in palate even some days after consumption. Ingredients composing it are exquisitely local, and maturation occurs in traditional containers buried in soil, in order to take advantage of a low but constant temperature which saves it from freezing; however, nowadays it is mainly used farmed fish. Therefore, despite fishing cycles’ seasonality got lost, rakfisk continues to be a product mainly consumed at Christmas time, usually served raw and sliced on a pentagram made by lefse [Norwegian soft bread], accompanied by leeks or onions, potatoes and a liquid component, which may be common beer or an aromatised distillate known as akvavit . chapter III: norwegian rakfisk appendix: the acquired taste Invisible fil rouge binding these fermented fish products is the concept of acquired taste . It is attributed to a food that is mainly impossible to appreciate and make one’s own from the very first bite, because palate needs a prolonged exposure over the years, possibly from an early age, to its particular flavour. Appreciation for this category of food – instinctively rejected by the brain, which recognizes in its bitter taste and in its rancid smell rather an alarm ring than a tempting invitation – is therefore a social construct. Yet, in the past, rancid and rotten aromas of fermented dairy and fish products fell within the scope of normality in Europe, being so ingrained in Scandinavian latitudes’ culture that salt, in the eighth century, met a strong resistance to enter the good favours of the Ice People in being used as a preservative, never completely substituting drying and fermentation techniques for the preservation of foods. Since the nineteenth century, gradual mutation of the fishery systems and introduction of the cold chain have slowly changed eating habits and tastes, recalling into question the consumption of these products up to ensure that younger generations could get far from them. However, today's renewed international interest in fermentation – and for probiotic foods in general – is now reinforcing bridges for the future, even though undermined by globalization and contemporary food industry logics. The future of fermented fish pearls in Northern Europe is not obscure, but it is all to be done. Meanwhile, the rest of the world observes lending an open hand, which tends towards Scandinavia just asking to be filled.