flipLe hareng saur du poète fauché
Le hareng saur du poète fauché
Why this dish? Basic charcuterie and frugal food were Verlaine's daily lot. Smoked herring — cheap, salty, smoked, keeping for weeks without ice — was the king of bohemian food; Charles Cros, a friend of the Zutistes circle that Verlaine frequented, even made it the subject of a famous poem.
Whole smoked and heavily salted herring, desalted and tenderized in oil with onion and aromatics. Powerful, briny, eaten on bread with a few warm potatoes.
Smoked herring, you see, is the faithful companion of the poor man of letters. It hangs on its nail, dry and russet, asking for neither ice nor expense, waiting for its hour for weeks. You soak it to remove the coarse salt, then bathe it in oil with onion, and behold it becomes almost tender. Lay it on a crust, add two warm potatoes, and there you have a prince's dinner according to the fortune of poets.
- •Smoked herrings (salted and smoked) — 2 fish (salty and smoky base)
- •Milk or water — enough to cover (desalting)
- •Onion — one (aromatic)
- •Oil — enough to cover (softening marinade)
- •Dark bread — to taste (accompaniment)
Le hareng saur du poète fauché
Whole smoked and heavily salted herring, desalted and tenderized in oil with onion and aromatics. Powerful, briny, eaten on bread with a few warm potatoes.
Why this dish? Basic charcuterie and frugal food were Verlaine's daily lot. Smoked herring — cheap, salty, smoked, keeping for weeks without ice — was the king of bohemian food; Charles Cros, a friend of the Zutistes circle that Verlaine frequented, even made it the subject of a famous poem.
Smoked herring, you see, is the faithful companion of the poor man of letters. It hangs on its nail, dry and russet, asking for neither ice nor expense, waiting for its hour for weeks. You soak it to remove the coarse salt, then bathe it in oil with onion, and behold it becomes almost tender. Lay it on a crust, add two warm potatoes, and there you have a prince's dinner according to the fortune of poets.
Ingredients (period version)
- Smoked herrings (salted and smoked) — 2 fish (salty and smoky base)
- Milk or water — enough to cover (desalting)
- Onion — one (aromatic)
- Oil — enough to cover (softening marinade)
- Dark bread — to taste (accompaniment)
Ingredients
- Smoked herring fillets (saur) — 4 fillets (base)
- Milk — 25 cl (desalting / softening)
- Red onion — 1 (aromatic)
- Carrot — 1 (marinade)
- Neutral oil — 15 cl (preservation and tenderness)
- Bay leaf, peppercorns — a few (aromatics)
- Potatoes — 400 g (warm accompaniment)
Method
- Soak the herring fillets in milk for 1 to 2 hours to desalt them, then drain.
- Slice the onion into thin rings and the carrot into thin strips.
- Layer the fillets in a shallow dish, alternating with onion, carrot, bay leaf, and pepper.
- Cover with oil and marinate in the fridge for at least 24 hours (up to a week).
- Boil the potatoes, serve warm with the herring and country bread.
How it was made : Before refrigeration, salting and smoking herring ("saur") allowed the fish to be preserved for months. A food of the working classes and sailors, it fed all of 19th-century Parisian bohemia for a few centimes.
The contemporary twist : Shredded on a slice of grilled dark bread with sour cream and dill: the poets' herring in Scandinavian bistro style.
Paul Verlaine · Charactorium
