Pickled Herrings

Name: Pickled Herrings
Yield: Makes about a dozen
Ingredients: 2.5 cm (1 inch) piece fresh ginger; 1 tablespoon whole allspice; 1 tablespoon peppercorns, black, white, or mixed; 12 cloves; 12 cardamom pods, cracked and split open; cinnamon stick; 2 teaspoons coriander seeds; 4 bay leaves; 12 herrings of even size; 1.25 litres (1 quart) water; 175 g (6 oz) sea salt; 1.25 litres (1 quart) white wine vinegar, spirit vinegar, distilled malt vinegar, or rice vinegar; 1.25 litres (1 quart) white wine vinegar, spirit vinegar, distilled malt vinegar, or rice vinegar; 1.25 litres (1 quart) white wine vinegar, spirit vinegar, distilled malt vinegar, or rice vinegar; 1.25 litres (1 quart) white wine vinegar, spirit vinegar, distilled malt vinegar, or rice vinegar; 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar; 3 mild onions, peeled and thinly sliced

Preparation info

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Modern Classics

By Frances Bissell

Published 2000

About

Ingredients

12 herrings of even size
1.25 litres (1 quart) water

Preserve
Condiment
Pescatarian
Gluten-free

Method

Begin the preparation at least two days before required.

The herrings should be scaled, gutted, cleaned and filleted. For rollmops, the fish are left whole after scaling, gutting and cleaning but the head and backbone are removed.

Place the fillets in a deep container, and pour over them the brine made from the water and sea salt. Let them soak for 2 hours. During this time, pre