April 21, 2023

Not Your Mother's Herring


Not Your Mother's Herring
Dressed herring. Wikimedia Commons.

Herring under a fur coat, a revered and traditional Russian dish, is savored by the masses on both extraordinary and everyday occasions. In honor of the iconic delicacy, RIA Novosti reported how renowned chefs at Moscow's finest eateries have put their unique spin on the beloved fish dish.

Uley: Denis Korolkov's stove-smoked herring under a fur coat

Ingredients:
Boiled potatoes - 60g
Homemade mayonnaise - 50g
Boiled carrots - 30g
Herring fillet - 80g
Garlic - 2g
Black caviar - 5g
Red onion - 1g
Dill - 1g
Oil with herbs - 1g

For decoration:
Black caviar - 10g
Parsley, dill - 2g
Butter with herbs - 5g

Directions:
Place the chopped, boiled vegetables, herring, and egg into a glass jar in this sequence: potatoes, carrots, herring fillets, potatoes, herring fillets again, then beets. Separate each layer with a layer of mayonnaise.

Decorate with shredded egg in a pyramid shape, and pile caviar, dill, parsley, and green oil on top. Before serving, fill the jar with smoke from the stove and roll.

On a separate plate, make three canapés with the herring on buckwheat toast, decorating them with caviar, onions, and herbs.

Dizengoff/99: Viktor Sinelnikov's forshmak

Ingredients:
Herring fillet - 250g
Red onion - 50g
Apple - 200g
Butter - 70g
Eggs - 3
Mayonnaise - 70g

Directions:
Chop up the boiled eggs and dice the remaining ingredients. Combine everything with room-temperature butter.

For the mayonnaise, whisk an egg with mustard, salt, lemon juice, and vegetable oil. The mixture should turn thick. You can season it with olive oil, salt, and lemon juice to your liking.

Plate the mixture with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of green onions. Serve with slices of Borodinsky bread

Expedition: Yuri Sysoev's herring with warm potatoes and horseradish

Ingredients
Olyutorskaya herring - 4 pieces
Potato - 500g
Horseradish - 10g

For the brine:
Water - 2L
Sugar - 60g
Sea salt - 140g
Bay leaf - 3 leaves
Sweet pea pepper - 4 peppers
Cloves - 3 pieces
Cinnamon - to taste

Directions:
Rinse and dry the Olyutorskaya herring. Bring the water to a boil, and add all of the spices. Let it cool and then pour over the fish. Leave the dish in the refrigerator for five days.

Fillet the herring into chunks and serve with chopped horseradish and fresh, warm potatoes.

You Might Also Like

Eat. Bake. Protest.
  • January 25, 2023

Eat. Bake. Protest.

How a woman from Moscow turned a cake business into an anti-war protest and helped charities.
Food, Dance, Poets
  • January 25, 2023

Food, Dance, Poets

In which we review books about food, dance, poetry, and Stalin.
A Glutton's New Year Feast
  • January 01, 2022

A Glutton's New Year Feast

The pirog is quite capable of holding the flag as the most important dish in Russian cuisine. It is a filling, generous, and hearty meal, containing all the major food groups (vegetables, animal protein, grains, and bread) rolled up in one.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955