Herring and Onions
A stinky fish with a fervent following.
 Written with Efim and Irina Marmer.
As Rabbi Noah Bickhart noted to me, of course there's nothing intrinsically Jewish about eating herring--the fish is as popular in Scandinavia as it is throughout Eastern Europe. For that matter, noted the rabbi, there's nothing particular Jewish about whiskey either--but the combination, in shul--that's very Jewish.
Most likely, the fish became popular among Eastern European Jews for practical reasons: it was cheap. Rather than calling herring by its Russian moniker, seledka, my great-grandmother Riva called it oseledka, adding a slight "oh" in the beginning of the word as a breathy sigh of pure adoration. Indeed, she, like many other shtetl balabustes knew how to make a whole feast out of a single herring. Today, on this side of the ocean, not a whole lot of people know (or want to know) that herring can actually be bought whole, and prepared in a number of ways. Be a mentch, try the recipe you find below. You might even like it. Before the recipe though, a quick word on the variety of cured, store-bought herring, by means of a Woody Allen quip: A man who could not marry off his ugly daughter visited Rabbi Shimmel of Cracow. "My heart is heavy," he told the Rev, "because God has given me an ugly daughter." Woody Allen, Getting Even You may think Woody is jesting, and there's really no difference between Bismarck and Maatjes herring, but the distinction is crucial. Bismarck is the salted fillet and roe of herring, pickled in vinegar, white wine, and spices. Maatjes (or soused) herring is baked or fried in a marinade containing vinegar, spices, tea, sugar, herbs and served therein. Can you compare the fine, gentle Maatjes that melts on your tongue with pungent, raw Bismarck? You may also encounter the Shmaltz herring, which is the fatty, mature hunks of fish, preserved in the mixture of vinegar, spice, and schmaltz--chicken or goose fat. When buying herring for the recipe below, I recommend getting a simple non-cured whole fish, most often found at a Russian specialty shop. These herring are stored in a mixture of water and salt, so they are already semi-pickled. For other herring variations, try these recipes for forshmak and herring in an overcoat. <<< Less |
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Jake Marmer is a poet and performer, living in New York City. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at CUNY Graduate Center. You can find more of his work at jakemarmer.wordpress.com.
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