Saints Around the World: Greece & Denmark

Surströmming is a Swedish dish of fermented baltic herring, and it might just be (assuming a traditional American palette) the most horrific food in the world. But when you're playing Disgusting BINGO at the Disgusting Food Museum in Malmö, Sweden, you grab a fork and dig in.

"We eat to live. But food isn't just about survival." Those two sentences, which begin the course description for Tasting Culture: Nordic and Mediterranean Food, Tradition, and Nutrition set the table (pun intended) for a four-week summer study tour of Greece and Denmark. The course is a unique collaboration between College Year in Athens (CYA) and DIS, a Study Abroad in Scandinavia program. First from Athens and then in Copenhagen, the course explores the forces that shape our association with food and encourages students to taste their way through Europe. But, as Emma Peterson '26 discovered, you take the exquisite with the revolting.

Peterson is a member of Siena's softball team, and because the squad plays a competitive schedule in the fall and the spring, study abroad opportunities are limited during the academic year. Instead, Peterson discovered the CYA/DIS program which would satisfy her heritage credit and maximize her four-weeks in Europe. Plus, she loves to eat.

"I'll try anything once. I love different types of foods. Literally anything you put in front of me I'll try."

In Sweden, her commitment would be put to the test.

Daily classes were often held in restaurants, and in Athens, the 11 students feasted on traditional Mediterranean cuisine. After two weeks, they transitioned to Denmark, and explored the commonalities and differences of a traditional Nordic diet. And then they took a one-day trip across the Øresund Bridge into Sweden.

It's unfair to call unfamiliar foods disgusting, and that's part of the enlightenment of the Disgusting Food Museum. The students discovered that Cuy (roasted guinea pig) is a delicacy in Peru and that Durian (infamously stinky fruit) is celebrated in Thailand. There are more than 80 "disgusting foods" on exhibition in the museum (including Twinkies), but Peterson's tolerance expired when she tried Hákarl.

"It's well-aged shark from Iceland. One of the mottos from class is 'never say no' assuming it's consumed safely. The fermented shark was easily the worst thing I tasted. We also sampled six different hot sauces. You put a drop on a toothpick and then you've got to be careful to make sure it doesn't touch your lips."

Not every student was brave enough to sample all six hot sauces, but Peterson did. She was required to sign a waiver warning of "severe stomach cramps, pain, and suffering" before she sampled the Grim Reaper, a chili extract that measures nine million on the Scoville scale. The Disgusting Food Museum might not be for everyone, but the lessons are universal.

"We learned to forget about our preconceived notions. We were learning about food, but we were learning a lot about respecting different cultures too."

Plus, it wasn't all fermented herring and well-aged shark. Most of the entrées, and views, including from the Greek Island of Ikaria, were divine to any palette.