Forshmak from herring: a classic Jewish recipe, with carrots and others

Odessans like to repeat: “If you want to learn how to cook fish deliciously, go to Privoz”. But what about those who are not planning a trip to the Pearl of the Black Sea in the near future? In this case, we recommend preparing mincemeat from herring. Even the classic recipe provides for many options - for every taste.

In the domestic culinary tradition, it is generally accepted that a pate made from chopped salted herring, onions, butter and white bread is a dish of Jewish origin. But few people know that forshmak first appeared in German cuisine (in German, “forshmak” means “snack”) and that it was prepared from lamb.

Later, the Scandinavians picked up the baton, but instead of meat they began to put fish in the dish and bake it. But the Swedes went even further and supplemented the pate recipe with mushrooms. As for the Jewish culinary tradition, mincemeat is made from herring and served cold. And this is due to the fact that the dish was intended for the menu of fasting Jews. This option has become the most popular in the countries of the former USSR.

To make minced meat tasty and you don’t have to cook it for a long time, consider some of the nuances of cooking:

  • herring for snacks should be taken lightly salted and not too fatty;
  • if the fish is still oversalted, then it should be soaked in milk (about 3 hours minimum) or strong black tea (4 tsp of tea leaves per 1 liter of water);
  • it is important to clean the herring well and remove all the bones (although if small bones remain, it does not matter: they will be crushed in a meat grinder);
  • for the classic taste of the pate, proportions must be observed. The fish should not interrupt all other components, therefore, on average, 1 herring is taken per 1 onion;
  • mincemeat ingredients are ground with a blender or in a meat grinder;
  • the butter for the pate needs to be slightly softened - so it mixes faster and easier with other ingredients;
  • it is better to take homemade fatty butter or cold-pressed olive oil.

By the way, the last wish is not so much culinary as medical. The fact is that mincemeat is considered an ideal snack for vodka. And, as you know, in order to facilitate the effect of alcohol on the gastric mucosa, alcohol must be accompanied by fatty foods.

Forshmak from herring: a classic recipe with a photo

As already mentioned, there are several dozen options for making mincemeat, and, most interestingly, they are all considered classic. But still, the “most classic” can be called a recipe with 5 components.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large herring;
  • 1 large onion;
  • 2 pieces of white loaf;
  • 1 sour apple;
  • 100 g of fatty butter.

Cooking:


You can optionally add 2 hard-boiled eggs to this recipe.

Forshmak in Hebrew

Jewish tradition involves the addition of vegetable (olive) oil instead of butter.

Ingredients:

  • 1 herring;
  • 2 eggs;
  • 2 sour apples;
  • 2 slices of white bread or loaf;
  • 1 onion;
  • 1 st. l. Russian mustard;
  • 70 ml of olive oil;
  • salt, table vinegar (to your taste).

Cooking:

  1. We boil the eggs.
  2. We clean the herring, remove the bones and cut into small slices.
  3. Soak the bread in warm water, squeeze lightly and grind with a meat grinder.
  4. Cut out the core from the apples.
  5. Pass the peeled onion through a meat grinder.
  6. Grind fish, eggs and an apple in the same way.
  7. We mix all products with bread.
  8. Salt the mass, pour in the oil and add the mustard.
  9. We mix everything and put it in the refrigerator for several hours. Serve with rye or white bread, toast. You can also, if desired, sprinkle the pate with finely chopped herbs. Parsley and cilantro are great.

Cooking option with carrots

Some chefs tend to “colorize” the pallor of the standard variation of the dish a little with the help of carrots.

Ingredients:

  • 1 herring;
  • 1 carrot;
  • 2 eggs;
  • 100 g of homemade fatty butter;
  • green onions (to taste)

Cooking:

  1. Boil eggs and carrots.
  2. Whip the butter until fluffy.
  3. We prepare the herring for grinding.
  4. Through a meat grinder, we skip the fish fillet, carrots, 1 yolk and 2 squirrels.
  5. We mix products with oil.
  6. Finely chop the onion, add to the pate. Decorate with grated egg yolk before serving.

To add variety to the mincemeat recipe, you can supplement the pate with an appetizing dressing.

Ingredients:

  • 1 st. l. white sugar;
  • 3 art. l. olive oil;
  • 1 st. l. apple cider vinegar;
  • 3 boiled yolks;
  • pepper (to your taste).

Cooking:

  1. Rub the yolks together with sugar and vinegar.
  2. Add oil, pepper. Mix with mincemeat.

The tradition of adding potatoes to salads and pates appeared so long ago that it is already difficult to imagine many recipes without this universal ingredient. Boiled potatoes can also be added to mincemeat, but then it is worth increasing the amount of fish fillet.

Ingredients:

  • 3 herrings;
  • 4 bulbs;
  • 3 large boiled potatoes;
  • 3 eggs;
  • 2 apples with sourness;
  • 150 g of fatty butter;
  • fresh ½ lemon;
  • 1 st. l. table (or apple) vinegar;
  • salt, spices (to your taste).

Cooking:

  1. We clean the herring, remove the insides and bones.
  2. Grind the fish with a blender or with a meat grinder.
  3. Boil eggs and grate together with potatoes and apples.
  4. Shred the onion and fry it in a pan with the addition of oil until golden brown.
  5. We mix all the products, pour vinegar, lemon juice.
  6. Salt, pepper and let it brew for 15 minutes. Serve in a special small plate. Before serving, you can sprinkle with finely chopped cilantro.

You can add a delicate piquancy to herring pate with the help of walnuts.

Ingredients:

  • 1 herring;
  • 100 g chopped nuts;
  • 2 green apples;
  • 1 onion;
  • 3 slices of white bread or loaf;
  • 1 st. low-fat milk;
  • 1 st. l. white sugar;
  • 1 tsp table vinegar;
  • 70 ml olive oil.

Cooking:

  1. We clean the herring, remove the bones and pour milk for 15 minutes.
  2. We soak a loaf or bread in water, squeeze it and chop it with a blender together with the fish.
  3. We cut the core from apples, peel the onion and bring to a homogeneous consistency with a blender.
  4. Sugar mass, add vinegar, olive oil, nuts and mix thoroughly.
  5. We send it to the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Serve on toast or in tartlets.

Forshmak with melted cheese

To give the mincemeat the consistency of a thick cream, melted cheese is added to the dish.

Ingredients:

  • 1 herring;
  • 150 g of processed cheese;
  • fresh ½ lemon;
  • 20 ml of olive oil;
  • 1 tsp paprika;
  • onion greens.

Cooking:

  1. We clean the fish, remove the bones.
  2. Together with cheese, we pass through a meat grinder or grind with a blender.
  3. Finely chop the onion.
  4. Mix oil with paprika, juice and onion.
  5. Add the dressing to the fish mass. The pate is ready.

In this recipe, you can also use not salted, but smoked herring.