For many people the asparagus season is the culinary high point of spring, but I couldn't care less. But come the new season potatoes, and you've got my undivided attention!
Spring comes very late to Finland, so we still have to wait for the domestic new potatoes, which naturally are the best in the world (that means second to none, Pille). They usually reach the shops around the turn of May and June, and by Midsummer everybody is eating them. Luckily countries such as Israel, Morocco and Cyprus provide us with very early potatoes in the meantime. Those are much larger, however, and not nearly as sweet as their tiny, almost skinless Finnish cousins. A domestic new potato doesn't even need peeling. It's enough to rinse them under running water, and the skin falls off at the slightest rub of a hand.
Yesterday I got a big craving for new potatoes with marinated herring, so I had to settle for Moroccan imports. I could have bought Finnish ones, but at €35 a kilo ($20/lb) I didn't think so... The half kilo I needed would have cost €17.50, and that for potatoes! By Midsummer the price comes down to something sensible, and I can wait that long. The skin of the Moroccan ones doesn't rub off at all, as you can see in the picture, so I boiled them skins on and cut them in half on the plate.
New potatoes taste absolutely fantastic with nothing but some butter, but add some marinated herring and onions, and you've got a meal fit for kings. I have always loved herring. At home it is on the table every Christmas, chopped into the pink beetroot salad if nowhere else, and as long as I can remember my mother has bought hers ready-made from a shop. So do I. Many restaurants make their own spiced herrings for their lunch buffets, but way too often I've found them slimy rather than delicious. I especially like the herrings made by a Swedish company called Abba. The band ABBA actually asked their permission to use the same name, as Abba Seafood was founded in 1838 and ABBA the band in 1972. I read somewhere that the company's name is short for AB Bröderna Ameln, the Ameln brothers' firm, so it has nothing to do with the band. Abba has a large selection of herring in different marinades, my favourite being the French onion one. IKEA sells some Abba herring products and other Swedish delicacies in all of its stores worldwide.
There is hardly any actual cooking here. While the potatoes boil I cut a couple of shallots lengthwise into thin wedges and the pickles into strips, which I lay across the herring. The herring comes straight from the jar, already in bite-sized pieces. The steaming potatoes get a knob of butter on top and some fresh dill.
Recipe card
New Season Potatoes With Marinated Herring
- Serves 2
You will need
| 1 jar | Abba marinated herring |
| 500 g (1 lb) | new season potatoes |
| 2 | shallots |
| pickles (cucumber) | |
| butter | |
| fresh dill |
Method
- Boil the potatoes.
- Slice the onions and the pickles.
- Serve the potatoes with fresh butter on top and the herring straight from the jar.
- Garnish with some fresh dill.
In the picture I also had some wild mushroom salad on the plate.
15 comments
Ok, Antti - I really hate marinated & salted herring, whether Abba brand or not (a staple at home - I leave the kitchen the moment my mum starts cleaning them and refuse to come back until she's covered them in sour cream and put away in the fridge!), and there is a missing 'second' in the beginning of your second paragraph;) But I love the plating of your meal, and I really crave some new season potatoes now!! Mmmm - and the wild mushroom salad, obviously..
Pille - I hear you loud and clear - herring fillets that need cleaning are totally gross and disgusting! Every xmas mom makes a huge batch of rosolli (herring salad with beets, onion, pickles, apple, carrots and whipped cream), and I almost vomit when I see the salted, whole herring fillets. I couldn't imagine a xmas meal without the rosolli however, and the finished product is super, super good.
Just to reassure the other, unprejudiced readers: Abba marinated herrings are super good, 100% boneless bite-sized pieces, and can be eaten straight from the jar!
BTW, I got your point, and added the missing 'second' =)
$20/lb potatoes - YIKES! Some time you need to do a post on how a proper Finn properly eats a proper Finnish potato!
Cheeky, Antti, very cheeky! That's NOT what I meant, obviously. Let me just say that Finland is very, very close to a place where the best potatoes in the world are grown;-)
Oh my goodness...that photo is beyond beautiful! I am in awe...
As for marninated herring, well, I don't think I've ever had it (though, I fondly remember my grandfather consuming it by the jar-ful) but I am inspired now!
Wau! Sulla on silmää! Tutut antimet voi laittaa nuinkin esille! =)
Oh! What I wouldn't give to have some of those "world's best" potatoes! You are making me miss my short stay in Finland...that photo is going to make me cry. I love marinated or raw herring, especially with onions...I hope I can find some good ones here, maybe in one of the better delis...cross your fingers for me please!
[...] Quand je vous parlais de pommes de terre nouvelles et de hareng mariné, en voici un bel exemple, photo et recette à la clé (en anglais). L’article date du mois dernier, mais le repas est bien encore de saison. - Sur le blog culinaire d’Antti et Anna, frère et soeur et Finlandais [...]
Hei!
Haastan siut meemiin,
jossa pohditaan bloggaajien ulkonäkää! =D
Ehditkäs sellaisen haasteen ottaa vastaan? =)
Ohjeet tuolla:
http://hallatar.vuodatus.net/blog/169871?postcomment=yes#bottom
hi antti, gorgeous photo! how i miss the taste of soused herring - sadly, because my other half dislikes the taste of herring, plus good herring is virtually impossibly to come by here in singapore, i really can't remember the last time i ate this...thanks for the memory revival and lovely recipe
Alanna: Finally the domestic potatoes are available again, and the price has dropped to 1-2 euro/kg 🙂
Pille: I have absolutely no idea what you mean o:)
Rachael: Good to see you again 🙂 And I'm relieved to see you have started cooking again albeit your new job - I hope the same happens to me too, soon!
Hallatar: Kiitoksia 🙂 Meemin joudun ikävä kyllä jättämään väliin kun aikaa ei tahdo riittää edes kommentteihin vastaamiseen 😐 Mutta kyllä taikinapoika vielä ponnistaa uudelleen nousuun, ihan varmasti 😀
Joey: My fingers are crossed for you =) I hope you find the herrings... Definitely try IKEA first, they sell all kinds of Scandinavian food-goodness in their stores.
J: Thanks! Sadly, I'd give up herrings for good if I could have the yummy dishes on daily basis you can enjoy in Singapore 🙂
[...] I’ve always loved pickled herring, especially ABBA kesäsilli (summer herring) with new season potatoes. Many restaurants offer various, self made spiced and pickled herrings in their lunch buffets, but way too often I’ve found them to be slimy rather than delicious. [...]
I would love to find a good recipe for making marinate herring--the kind that is found for sale in jars in Finland--out of ordinary, fresh herring.
All of the recipes I find on line are the more Americanized versions of pickled herring, which is not nearly as tasty as the wonderful kinds you can buy in every grocery store in Finland.
I know that the process is not difficult, but I think it's all in knowing the correct proportions of vinegar to sugar, as well as thy type of vinegar and the spices used.
I would greatly appreciate any help you might have in bringing a bit if Finland into my kitchen.
Regards, Don Cannon
Hi Don,
Take a look at my recent posting about making pickled herrings: http://www.taikinapoika.com/2006/12/17/glass-master"?s-herring-pickled-herring-with-spices/
Albeit I used pre-canned herrings, you can very well use fresh ones as the pickling liquid is suitable for fresh herrings also.
[...] always loved pickled herring, especially ABBA kesäsilli (summer herring) with new season potatoes. Many restaurants offer various, self made spiced and pickled herrings in their lunch buffets, but [...]