Haringsla (Dutch New Herring Salad)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium saucepan for potatoes
• •Small saucepan for eggs
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Sharp knife for even dicing
• •Wide serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook and cool

   Put the potatoes in a saucepan of salted cold water, bring to a gentle boil, and cook until a knife slides in cleanly, about 18 to 22 minutes depending on size. In a second small pan, boil the eggs for 9 to 10 minutes, then cool them under cold water and peel. Let potatoes and eggs cool completely. Warm potato makes the dressing loose and the herring dull; this salad belongs to the cold side of the table.

2. 2

   Prepare the herring

   Keep the Hollandse Nieuwe cold until you need it. Pat the fillets dry, remove any tail pieces or fine bones your fishmonger missed, and dice the fish into small pieces. Taste one piece before you season anything else. The herring is the salt cellar here.

   Use only commercially prepared Hollandse Nieuwe or good matjes herring intended to be eaten raw-cured. Do not buy raw whole herring and guess your way to safety.
3. 3

   Dice the salad

   Dice the cooled potatoes, beetroot, apples, pickles, and onion into pieces roughly the same size as the herring. Chop two of the eggs and slice the third for the top. This is a salad of small equal bites; no beetroot boulder should ambush the spoon. The beetroot will stain everything a confident pink, which is not a mistake but the announcement.

4. 4

   Mix the dressing

   In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, crème fraîche, mustard, pickle brine, chives, and a few turns of white pepper. Do not add salt yet. Between the herring, mustard, and pickles, the bowl is already speaking clearly.

5. 5

   Fold and chill

   Fold the potatoes, beetroot, apple, pickles, onion, and chopped eggs through the dressing until just coated. Add the diced herring last and fold with a lighter hand. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 12 hours. The rest matters: the potato takes the dressing, the apple calms down, and the herring settles into the whole dish without disappearing.

   If the salad tastes flat after chilling, add a spoon of pickle brine before reaching for salt. Acid wakes herring better than more seasoning.
6. 6

   Plate on lettuce

   Dry the lettuce leaves well and lay them across a wide serving platter. Spoon the chilled haringsla over the leaves, tuck the sliced egg on top, and scatter with a little extra chive if the bowl asks for green. Serve cold with dark rye bread and butter. I prefer to keep it a bit more relaxed, in the Dutch way: one good platter, passed properly.

Chef Tips

• •Buy the herring from a fishmonger who cleans it that day, and ask when it came in. Hollandse Nieuwe is a June pleasure; if someone sells you new herring in February, the name is doing the lying.
• •The tide sets the menu, and so does the calendar. If June has passed, use good matjes herring from a trusted fishmonger and call the dish haringsla, not Hollandse Nieuwe haringsla.
• •Do not drown the fish in mayonnaise. The dressing should bind, not bury; when you can still see pieces of potato, beetroot, apple, and herring, you have stopped in time.
• •Keep the lettuce separate until serving. Lettuce left under dressed salad overnight gives up its water, and then the platter tells the wrong story.
• •Serve with buttered dark rye and something cold and clean: a small pilsner, dry white wine, or a modest glass of jonge jenever.

Advance Preparation

• •The potatoes, eggs, and beetroot can be cooked or prepared a full day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
• •The dressed salad can be made up to 12 hours ahead, but keep the lettuce and sliced egg topping separate until serving.
• •Once the herring is folded in, eat the salad within 24 hours. It will not become dangerous if kept properly cold, but it will become tired, and tired herring is a sad little sermon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 395g)