Аппетит приходит во время еды
A Russian saying translating to mean ‘appetite comes during the meal’.
I am so excited to begin sharing some more of my favourite Russian recipes here on the blog! I’ve already shared my ‘lobio’ recipe and now it’s time for a salad!
But this is no ordinary salad…
Herring Under A Fur Coat
Selyodka pod shuboy (Селёдка под шубой) – translated to mean ‘herring under a fur coat’ is a very typical and traditional salad dish served at the Russian table during a time of celebration. The salad gets its extraordinary name from the fact that the herring is covered in other ingredients, almost as if it is being dressed in a fur coat!
Dishes such as this one are served as a ‘zakuski’ (закуски), meaning ‘something to bite after’ and form an important part of Russian culture. Zakiski dishes are typically served cold and are laid out on the table as a starter/snack for guests to sample before a meal is served later.
I crave this salad around the festive period as it is something we ate during New Year’s celebrations and I always remember how spectacular it looks on the table due to its colourful and unique appearance.
It goes without saying it is also ridiculously tasty too!
The Perfect Combination
I’ve found that the initial ‘idea’ of this salad when described to non-Eastern Europeans – particularly once I mention the herring and eggs combo – seems to turn people off, but you really do need to sample it to see that each of the ingredients layered on top of one another create a truly delicious and complimentary taste sensation.
Also, despite the fact that herring is used (people tend to associate herring with being very ‘fishy’), the rest of the ingredients really balance it out. The saltiness from the fish, sharpness of the onion, fat from the mayo combined with everything else help each ingredient to showcase its unique flavour profile while bringing out the best in the other ingredients at the same time.
Preparation Is Key
I’ve broken down my recipe into two parts – the prep and then the assembly as I think this makes it easier to digest. The preparation stage for the making of this salad takes a while so I would recommend giving yourself some time to ease into making it.
And please don’t be put off by the amount of initial prep involved – it will all be worth it in the end! I remember always being given the job of cutting/grating everything up as a kid and feeling a sense of accomplishment when everything was prepared for assembly and my hands were stained purple from the beetroot! This is definitely a dish to share out among the family so I would definitely get as many people involved as possible.
A key piece of equipment needed for this recipe to achieve the most authentic Russian appearance is a deep glass dish of some sort. The aim is to be able to see the layers if possible as it looks pretty impressive on the dinner table.
This recipe has an approximate 8 serving yield (depending on how hungry you are!).
Let’s begin…
Ingredients:
- 400g herring fillets
- 3 large cooked beetroots
- 3 large potatoes
- 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
- 2 large carrots
- ½ white onion
- 2 eggs
- Salt and pepper
- Dill to garnish
Prep:
- Peel the potatoes and carrots until they are soft (this takes approx 25 mins), then drain off the water and leave to one side to cool.
- Cook the eggs until they are hard boiled – this should take about 10 minutes. Allow these to cool to one side also.
- Now it’s time to cut everything up! Keep each ingredient separate in little bowls as you will need to layer them in a particular order later on. Cut up the herring into small cube-like pieces so that they are small and similar in size to a piece of sweetcorn. Then dice up the onion into similar sized pieces as the herring.
- Finally, grate up the potatoes, eggs, beetroot and carrots.
Assembly:
- Spread ⅓ of your grated potatoes at the bottom of your glass serving dish.
- Now top with and spread all of the chopped onions over the potato.
- Do the same with the diced herring.
- Take a couple of tablespoons of the mayonnaise and use the underside of the spoon to spread the mayo over the herring layer, pressing it down.
- Put the remaining grated potatoes on top of this and then sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste (bear in mind the herring will add some salt to the dish already).
- Top this layer with grated carrots and spread out evenly.
- Follow this with another layer of mayonnaise and again, use the underside of the spoon to spread it out.
- Top this later with the grated cooked beetroot.
- And finally cover the salad with the remaining mayonnaise and the egg.
- Decorate the mayonnaise layer however you like with the dill and pop in the fridge. You’re done!
Setting And Serving
Ideally I would recommend that this salad is best made the day before so that it has time to cool and rest in the fridge, but if time is a luxury you don’t have then 3 hours in the fridge will suffice! The most important thing is that the salad has had time to sufficiently cool down and the layers have been able to set.
My family typically ate this salad as part of a celebratory meal/buffet-style dinner to bring in the New Year alongside some other Russian salads/dishes, but you could just as easily incorporate this into any occasion where you have a group of people to feed. Why not bring this along to a BBQ or pot-luck family gathering?
I would absolutely LOVE to see what you think about this incredibly delicious and traditional Russian salad. This dish holds so much nostalgia and memories for me, so please get in touch with your thoughts if you do get around to trying this recipe out!
Until next time,
Lica xoxo
