TWO friends have become internet sensations after completing a challenge which saw them simply trying to eat a fish.
Nigel Craig and Nathan Withers, both 42, have been friends for over 28 years. Each year for his birthday, Nathan likes to do something different to mark the occasion. As he had nothing planned this year, Nigel decided to mark it in a unique style, by completing the ‘Surstromming challenge’.
A Surstromming is a lightly-salted fermented Baltic Sea herring. It is fermented in its own bacteria. When eaten straight from the tin, the fish ferments in the mouth which in many cases results in it coming out of the mouth again - in rapid and dramatic style.
Nigel, of Longcar Lane said: “Nathan loves doing something he has never done before on his birthday. I had seen a challenge online and we both thought it was hilarious. I had to order the fish from Sweden but because of how much pressure is in the tin, it had to be shipped to the UK as it couldn’t go by air.”
The pair sat in Nathan’s garage, recorded the challenge and uploaded it onto YouTube. They received over 2m views in just ten days, with 16,000 comments from around the world on Facebook.
Nigel said: “We both had a lot of milkshake before as we wanted to try and curb the results but the smell was so pungent we both began throwing up before we’d even tasted the fish.
“Nathan was shaking trying to eat the fish. Because I’d thrown up beforehand I couldn’t taste the fish so I can’t even tell you how it tasted. It was just vile.
“It is however one of the funniest thing’s I’ve ever done and I can’t believe how many people have laughed and enjoyed the video. To generate that many views is just amazing.”
