I guess being Jewish in St. Cloud, Minnesota had something to do with it. Why else would my dad go to such lengths to bring home this odd-smelling fish in the small jar, serve it with Rye Krisps and call it a snack?

When you think about those two factors – Jewish and Minnesota – it’s a little easier to see how the seeds of my herring love affair were sown.

My people have always loved smoked fish. Chubs, whitefish, sturgeon, you name it. If it swims and has scales, chances are my ancestors in Russia and Poland figured out a way to make it last by pickling it (a la gefilte fish, one of the only things to this day I don’t eat) or by smoking it.

But the herring factor makes more sense when you think about my surroundings: Minnesota. Land of Humphrey, Mondale, Lake Wobegon and Rod Carew; and of course, more Swedes than anywhere outside of the mother country. The Swedish American Museum is a major tourist attraction in Minneapolis and the Midsummer Festival is legendary. Marcus Samuelsson even tried to open a branch of Aquavit there, but for some odd reason, it didn’t last. So I knew that Swedish culture was always big in the Twin Cities, but only after traveling to Stockholm did it click: these people not only love pickled herring, they worship it to the point of offering at least four or five different varieties on their menus. They serve it with boiled potatoes, butter and crispy crackers, called knäckebröd and have a fantastic snack, if not a family meal out of it. I had only seen the jars of herring in grocery stores in the U.S. Here, choices are limited to dill, creamed and maybe matjes. But in Sweden, herring is as ubiquitous as hot dogs are in Chicago. There’s even an amazing fried herring stand called “Strömmingsvagnen” near the Slussen train station, just a few minutes’ walk from the Royal Palace, in the same neighborhood where Stieg Larsson plotted his characters in the Millennium Trilogy.

Fortunately for Chicagoans in need of a herring fix, you can do so at Tre Kronor, which will start taking reservations Nov. 1, for its annual julbord (smörgåsbod or Christmas table) where they typically offer about 10 different types of herring.

The thought of actually pickling my own herring seemed as foreign to me as a Wong Kar Wai film. But after a visit to the charming restaurant Fjäderholmarnas Krog, about a 30-minute ferry ride from the center of Stockholm, I learned that conquering my fear of herring prep is easier than I imagined.

PICKLED HERRING

(Recipe from Frida Andersson, Fjäderholmarnas Krog, Stockholm)

PICKLED HERRING STOCK:

½ cup white vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 ½ cup water

1.5 oz finely-chopped carrots

1.5 oz. finely-chopped yellow onion

1.5 oz. finely-chopped cerely root

1 tsp mashed garlic cloves

3 tsp allspice

3 pieces of cinnamon

5 bay leaves

5 white peppercorns

1 small piece of horseradish

Bring everything to a boil and then let it cool off.

Take 5 salted herring filets and rinse for about 2-3 hours . It should be slightly salty.

Marinate the fish in the pickling stock

It takes 3 days until the fish is ready and it is very important that you stir the fish one time per day.