flipBistro Herring with Potatoes in Oil
Bistro Herring with Potatoes in Oil
Why this dish? In his poor youth and even after settling in at 42 rue Fontaine, Breton frequented the working-class bistros of Montmartre where this cold, cheap, and filling dish was the staple of penniless poets: a classic of the Parisian zinc counter in the 1910s-1930s.
Lightly smoked herring fillets marinated in oil with onions and aromatics, served warm on tender, still-hot potatoes. The quintessential cold-warm bistro dish, salty, briny, and comforting.
You see, when the purse was flat—and it was for a long time—it was at the corner bistro that our true banquet took place. There we ordered this herring lying in its oil, and these warm potatoes that drank up the vinegar: for a few sous, the marvelous was on the plate as much as in our notebooks. I always let the fish marinate a long night, for patience is already a form of poetry. Eat it warm, bread in hand, and let the red wine do the rest.
- •Lightly smoked herring (saurs) — a few fillets (salty marine base)
- •Firm potatoes — as needed (base of the dish)
- •Peanut or sunflower oil — enough to cover (marinade)
- •Onion and carrot — sliced (aromatics)
- •Bay leaf, peppercorns — a pinch (flavor)
Bistro Herring with Potatoes in Oil
Lightly smoked herring fillets marinated in oil with onions and aromatics, served warm on tender, still-hot potatoes. The quintessential cold-warm bistro dish, salty, briny, and comforting.
Why this dish? In his poor youth and even after settling in at 42 rue Fontaine, Breton frequented the working-class bistros of Montmartre where this cold, cheap, and filling dish was the staple of penniless poets: a classic of the Parisian zinc counter in the 1910s-1930s.
You see, when the purse was flat—and it was for a long time—it was at the corner bistro that our true banquet took place. There we ordered this herring lying in its oil, and these warm potatoes that drank up the vinegar: for a few sous, the marvelous was on the plate as much as in our notebooks. I always let the fish marinate a long night, for patience is already a form of poetry. Eat it warm, bread in hand, and let the red wine do the rest.
Ingredients (period version)
- Lightly smoked herring (saurs) — a few fillets (salty marine base)
- Firm potatoes — as needed (base of the dish)
- Peanut or sunflower oil — enough to cover (marinade)
- Onion and carrot — sliced (aromatics)
- Bay leaf, peppercorns — a pinch (flavor)
Ingredients
- Lightly smoked herring fillets — 250 g (salty marine base)
- Firm waxy potatoes — 500 g (base of the dish)
- Neutral oil — 15 cl (marinade)
- Onion — 1 (aromatic)
- Carrot — 1 (aromatic)
- Bay leaf — 1 leaf (flavor)
- Peppercorns, parsley — 1 tsp / 1 bunch (flavor and freshness)
Method
- The day before, place the herring fillets in a dish with sliced onion and carrot, bay leaf and peppercorns, cover with oil, and marinate overnight in the fridge.
- Cook the potatoes in their skins in salted water, peel while warm, and cut into thick slices.
- Drizzle the still-warm potatoes with a little of the marinade oil so they absorb it.
- Arrange the herring fillets on top with a few slices of marinated onion.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve warm, with country bread.
How it was made : In Parisian bistros, the herring marinated in large earthenware dishes set on the counter, where customers helped themselves. It was the food of small budgets, workers and artists alike, and the smell of smoked herring was part of the Montmartre landscape.
The contemporary twist : A touch of whole-grain mustard in the oil and a few pink peppercorns: the zinc counter revisited without betraying its spirit.
André Breton · Charactorium
