Comments on: Pickled herring recipe & how to fillet a fish

By: Advice on preparing herring « &

Advice on preparing herring « & — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:16:34 +0000

[...] advice on pickling herring by souring (rather than with vinegar), and also on fileting them, at http://awesomepickle.com/archives/344 . Share this:PrintEmailTwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry [...]

By: David

David — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 08:41:33 +0000

Elona, In response to your query. I’ve never eaten matjes herring in New York, but in London, where we called it shmaltz herring, it was browner, softer and more strongly flavoured than the matjes that is most common here in Israel. (I think the pink matjes may be the way the Dutch like it, and I think it is simply a question of how long it has stood packed in fat/oil and salt – but I’m not sure.) Amyway, if you can get to the Mahane Yehuda shuk (open market) in Jerusalem, you might try a shop that sells excellent herring, other fish, and olives and other delicatessen. It’s called Cohen (Hamutzim, I think). If you enter the main *covered* lane in the market (glass roof) from Jaffa Street (the lane runs from Jaffa to Agrippas), then this store is 10(?) stores down on your left. They usually have two containers of shmaltz, and the softer one is just as I like it. Incidentally, to reduce the saltiness, so that the herring flavour will come through, I put the herring in a flat dish just deep enough to cover the herring with water, immediately tip that water out, fill it again, turn the tap (fawcet) down till the water is running as little as possible. I completely empty the water after 30 minutes and refill, then empty it again after another 45 minutes and then clean the fish: lightly scraping the skin side with the flat blade of a sharp, non-serrated knife; then turning it over and clearing any memberane and boned from the gut side. I then slice it, wrap each fillet individually in cling film, and keep it in the fridge for as long as it lasts. (It stays perfect for at least 10-14 days, and is still enjoyable even a week later. Our problem is usually getting it to stay uneaten for that length of time!)

By: Elona

Elona — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:55:13 +0000

Searching hopelessly for the taste I remember from New York. I moved to Israel 13 years ago. There are many Russians here so herring abounds, as does pickled herring both in brine and cream … But the matjes herring here is different. It’s pinkish (which I suspect is artificial) and comes in oil, but doesn’t have that strong matjes taste which I love. I’ve tried adding red wine and sliced onions to it. This is a little better but still not the real McCoy. If anyone here knows the matjes I’m talking about and can help me out with how I can create it from the herring described above.