flipMarinated Smoked Herring with Oil and Onion
Marinated Smoked Herring with Oil and Onion
Why this dish? Smoked herring — smoked and salted — was the cheap protein that kept for weeks without an icebox, perfect for the cupboard of a penniless artist. Marinated in oil with onions and carrots, it provided several cold meals eaten with bread and potatoes, without having to cook.
Fillets of smoked herring, mellowed in milk, then marinated in oil with onions, carrots, and aromatics. A powerful, salty cold keeper that improves over a few days and is eaten with warm potatoes.
When the purse is flat, smoked herring is the artist's friend: it keeps, it costs almost nothing, and it nourishes. First I soak it in milk to remove the excess salt, then I layer the fillets in a jar with onion rings, carrot slices, bay leaf, and drown it all in oil. Three days' wait, and it becomes melting. With warm potatoes and a crust, you can last a week without relighting the stove.
- •Smoked herrings (saur) — two or three (keeper protein)
- •Milk — enough to cover (desalting)
- •Onion — one large (aromatic, acidity)
- •Carrot — one (sweetness, color)
- •Oil — enough to cover (marinade, preservation)
- •Bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme — a few (flavor)
Marinated Smoked Herring with Oil and Onion
Fillets of smoked herring, mellowed in milk, then marinated in oil with onions, carrots, and aromatics. A powerful, salty cold keeper that improves over a few days and is eaten with warm potatoes.
Why this dish? Smoked herring — smoked and salted — was the cheap protein that kept for weeks without an icebox, perfect for the cupboard of a penniless artist. Marinated in oil with onions and carrots, it provided several cold meals eaten with bread and potatoes, without having to cook.
When the purse is flat, smoked herring is the artist's friend: it keeps, it costs almost nothing, and it nourishes. First I soak it in milk to remove the excess salt, then I layer the fillets in a jar with onion rings, carrot slices, bay leaf, and drown it all in oil. Three days' wait, and it becomes melting. With warm potatoes and a crust, you can last a week without relighting the stove.
Ingredients (period version)
- Smoked herrings (saur) — two or three (keeper protein)
- Milk — enough to cover (desalting)
- Onion — one large (aromatic, acidity)
- Carrot — one (sweetness, color)
- Oil — enough to cover (marinade, preservation)
- Bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme — a few (flavor)
Ingredients
- Smoked herring fillets (saur or mild) — 4 fillets (keeper protein)
- Milk — enough to cover (desalting)
- Onion — 1 large, sliced (aromatic, acidity)
- Carrot — 1, sliced into rounds (sweetness, color)
- Neutral or olive oil — about 200 ml (marinade, preservation)
- Bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme — 1 leaf, 1 tsp, 2 sprigs (flavor)
Method
- If the herrings are very salty, soak them in milk for 2-12 hours, then pat dry.
- Cut the fillets into large pieces. Slice the onion and carrot into thin rounds.
- In a clean jar, layer herrings, onion, carrot, bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns.
- Cover completely with oil, seal, and refrigerate.
- Marinate at least 2-3 days before eating, cold, with warm potatoes and bread. Keeps for a good week in the fridge.
How it was made : Salted and smoked herring was for centuries one of the most widespread preserved foods in Northern Europe: caught in mass, preserved by salt and smoke, it lasted through winter without spoiling. In 19th-century working-class Paris, herrings and sardines were the poor man's protein, sold cheap and stored without refrigeration.
The contemporary twist : Served in a verrine on a warm potato mousse, modern bistro style — a revisited 'herring with oil and potato,' nodding to the brasseries frequented by Montparnasse artists.
Camille Claudel · Charactorium
