Mecklenburger Heringssalat

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium saucepan
• •Mixing bowl with lid
• •Sharp knife
• •Cutting board

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the herring

   Rinse the salted herring under cold water, then soak it in cold milk or cold water for 2 to 4 hours, changing the liquid once. Taste a small piece after 2 hours. It should taste firmly seasoned, not harsh, because the salt comes forward again once the fish sits in sour cream.

   If you use mild Matjes instead of salted herring, do not soak it for hours. Rinse, taste, and give it only 10 minutes in cold milk if it needs softening. Matjes is a different cure and you don't wash the fish out of it.
2. 2

   Cook the potatoes

   Boil the potatoes in their skins until a knife slides in cleanly, about 18 to 20 minutes, then drain and let them cool before peeling and dicing. Waxy potatoes hold their edges in the salad; floury potatoes break down and turn the dressing thick and dull. Save 2 tablespoons of the cooking water if the potatoes were cooked unsalted.

3. 3

   Cut the larder

   Dice the apples, pickles, onion, and cooled potatoes into small, even pieces, the size you want on a fork with the herring. Small dice lets the sour, sweet, sharp, and salty parts meet in every bite; big chunks make a bowl of separate arguments.

4. 4

   Make the dressing

   Stir the sour cream, yogurt or Schmand, mustard, pickle brine, vinegar, sugar, sunflower oil, dill, and black pepper together until smooth. Use the pickle brine before reaching for more vinegar; it brings acid and cucumber salt at once. Nicht aus dem Glas, not a bottled dressing. This bowl already has what it needs.

5. 5

   Fold the salad

   Pat the soaked herring dry and cut it into bite-sized strips, then fold it gently with the potatoes, apple, pickle, onion, and dressing. Fold, don't mash, because the potato should thicken the cream lightly without disappearing into it. If the dressing is stiff, loosen it with a spoon of potato water or pickle brine, not more cream.

6. 6

   Rest overnight

   Cover the salad and refrigerate it at least 8 hours, and better overnight. This rest is the dish. The onion loses its raw bite, the apple and pickle settle into the cream, and the herring seasons the whole bowl instead of sitting on top of it.

7. 7

   Taste and serve

   Stir the cold salad once, then taste before it goes to the table. Add pepper, a little vinegar, or a spoon of brine if it tastes flat, and add salt only at the end because the herring has already done most of that work. Serve cold with dark rye bread or boiled potatoes.

Chef Tips

• •Buy proper salted herring if you can, firm and silver, not a sweet jarred salad already swimming in mayonnaise. That jar has made every decision for you, and most of them badly.
• •Use a tart apple. Boskoop is right when you find it, because it stays bright against the fish and cream; a soft sweet apple makes the salad taste tired.
• •Keep the dressing pale and sharp. Mecklenburg does not need beetroot here, though other northern bowls do. If you add beetroot, you have changed the salad, not improved it.
• •Make it the day before. Freshly mixed Heringssalat tastes like parts; rested Heringssalat tastes like one dish.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the herring and boil the potatoes the evening before, then mix the salad and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator.
• •The salad keeps 2 days refrigerated. Stir before serving, and freshen it with a spoon of pickle brine if the potatoes have tightened the dressing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)