Oseledets pid Shuboyu (оселедець під шубою, herring salad)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A large pot for roots
• •A small pot for eggs
• •A box grater
• •A shallow serving platter or glass dish
• •A flexible spatula or back of a spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the roots

   Put the beets in one pan and the potatoes and carrots in another, cover with cold salted water, and simmer gently. Cook until a thin knife slides through the thickest part without finding a hard core; the beets will usually take longest, and their smell should move from raw earth to something round and sweet. Keep the beet tails and vegetable skins on so the flavour stays inside. Cool completely, then peel.

   Warm vegetables will drink too much mayonnaise and turn the layers heavy. Let them go properly cold before grating.
2. 2

   Boil the eggs

   Hard-boil the eggs, cool them in cold water, then peel. Separate the whites from the yolks. Grate the whites for the middle layer and keep the yolks for the top, where their yellow makes the beet look even more dramatic.

3. 3

   Prepare the herring

   Taste the herring before you cut it. If it bites too hard with salt, rinse it briefly under cold water and pat it dry, or let it sit in milk while the vegetables cool. Dice it small, toss with the sunflower oil, and let the onion sit in the pickle brine until it loses its raw shout. Drain and squeeze the onion with your hands.

4. 4

   Mix the dressing

   Stir the mayonnaise with the smetana until it falls from the spoon in a soft ribbon. It should spread easily but not run. If it feels stiff, loosen it with a teaspoon of pickle brine. Taste before salting; the herring is already doing plenty.

5. 5

   Grate and season

   Grate the potatoes, carrots, beets, and egg whites on the coarse holes of a box grater, keeping each pile separate. Season the potatoes and carrots lightly with black pepper and a little salt. If the beets are very wet, squeeze them gently in your hands so the coat sits cleanly instead of weeping across the platter.

6. 6

   Layer the shuba

   On a shallow platter, spread the herring first, then the drained onion and the grated apple if you're using it. Add the potato in an even layer and spread with a thin coat of dressing. Follow with carrot, another thin coat, then grated egg white. Mix two spoonfuls of dressing into the grated beets and spread them over the top and sides like a crimson blanket. Use a light hand. You are covering the herring, not building a wall.

   The order is the dish: salty herring at the bottom, potato above to soften it, sweet carrot and beet over the top. Overnight, the salt climbs upward and the beet colour bleeds down.
7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Cover the platter and chill overnight, or at least until the layers have settled and the top stains the dressing a deep pink at the edges. Before serving, crumble the egg yolks over the beet and scatter with dill. Slice it like cake, with a wet knife, and don't fuss when the first piece slumps. The second one always behaves.

Chef Tips

• •Use salted herring, not smoked herring. Matjes-style fillets work if that is what your shop has, but taste first because some are sweet and mild while others can salt your whole face.
• •Waxy potatoes hold their shape after grating. Floury potatoes turn to paste, and then the salad feels tired before it reaches the table.
• •The overnight rest is the step that doesn't forgive much. You can change the layers, use apple or no apple, make your own mayonnaise or open a jar, but the salad must sleep.
• •If jarred mayonnaise tastes too sweet, cut it with smetana and a little pickle brine. That tang wakes the herring back up.
• •Dill on top is enough. This is already a loud salad; it doesn't need a market garden arranged over it.

Advance Preparation

• •Boil the beets, potatoes, carrots, and eggs the day before assembly if you like. Cold roots grate more cleanly.
• •Assemble the salad the night before serving. Four hours will do in a hurry, but overnight is when shuba becomes itself.
• •Add the grated yolk and dill shortly before serving so the top stays bright.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)