Herrings, Pickled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the herring
Pound the coarse sea salt, bay salt, sugar, and saltpetre together until fine.
Remove the heads and tails from the herrings, open them, and soak in brine strong enough to float an egg for 1 hour.
Drain and dry the herrings with a soft cloth.
Pickle
Layer the herrings in a deep jar, sprinkling some of the salt mixture between each layer and on top and bottom.
Press down the layers and cover the jar tightly.
Let the fish pickle for 3 months.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the fish and firms its flesh while curing.
- Bay salt
- Adds salinity and helps preserve the fish by drawing out water.
- Sugar
- Balances the sharpness of the salt and adds a mild sweetness to the cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the fish's colour and firmness during long curing.
- Fresh herrings
- The main ingredient, whose oily flesh softens and matures during pickling.
The step that matters
Layering and pressing the herrings in the jar. Even coverage of salt between layers and firm pressing keep the cure penetrating evenly and exclude air, so the fish cures uniformly and resists spoilage during the long pickling time.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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