Brathering

Brathering belongs to the northern table, North Sea and Baltic, where herring was never just fish for tonight. It was food for the next days too. You flour it, fry it, and lay it in vinegar with onions, bay, mustard seed, and pepper until the sharpness has gone through the flesh. Cold with rye bread or boiled potatoes, it makes a weeknight meal from the larder. Das braucht seine Zeit.

The split is simple. On the coast, the fish stays plain and sharp, often whole, bones and all if the herrings are small enough. Inland cooks sweeten the liquor more, or add more spice because the fish has travelled and needs help. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. I keep this one northern: sour enough to wake the fish, sweet enough not to punish you.

The technique that decides it is the frying. The herring must be dry, floured thinly, and browned properly before it sees the vinegar. If the coating is damp or pale, the marinade turns it woolly and sad. Fry it until the skin is firm and golden, then pour the hot spiced vinegar over the warm fish so the pores open and the sour liquor gets in. Nicht aus dem Glas. Make the fish, make the pickle, wait two days.