Herring forshmak: classic and modern recipes

This common cold appetizer is prepared by different peoples. Probably because it requires the simplest ingredients, but it turns out tasty and satisfying. Herring forshmak can be found in German and Swedish cuisines, but this dish was invented by the Jewish people. Interestingly, translated from German, it sounds like “snack”.

A whole line of different recipes has been created. What not to add to a snack. You can find peppers and mushrooms, potatoes and sour cream in the composition. Sometimes, for satiety, even boiled, ground meat is added. But there are always constant ingredients in the form of herring, butter and eggs.

Herring gives the appetizer a special piquancy. Salted fish goes well with many foods, especially vegetables. Look at the holiday snacks that are swept off the table in seconds or that you want to surprise your guests with. Many of them contain herring. Its subtle salty taste activates the stomach and increases appetite.

Surprisingly, this dish is prepared not only as a cold appetizer, but also served hot. Hot mincemeat is typical of Prussian cuisine, with the addition of various types of meat. We offer you a cold appetizer according to a classic Jewish recipe, with an Odessa twist.

Culinary secrets

Knowing a few technological subtleties, even an inexperienced housewife can count on getting tasty mincemeat.

• Previously, forshmak was considered the food of the poor, and it was used for the worst, “rusty” herring, which one did not want to eat separately. Today, people do not hesitate to put this appetizer on the festive table. Therefore, it is worth choosing high-quality herring for its preparation. Sometimes it is even replaced or supplemented with red fish, and expensive products such as veal, cheese, and butter are added to the pate itself.
• Traditionally, salted herring is used for mincemeat, but if desired, it can be replaced with pickled herring (preserved herring).
• Freshly salted herring has elastic meat that quickly returns to shape, its fillet adheres tightly to the bones, the eyes are quite transparent, and the gills are bright. This also applies to fresh frozen fish.
• If you are sure that the lightly salted herring available for sale is of high quality, you can salt it yourself. Home-salted herring is prepared with the set of spices that family members like, this is another advantage of it.
• Herring for mincemeat is turned through a meat grinder or crushed in a blender, but initially it was simply finely chopped. You can also do this, then the pieces of fish will be felt in the pate, and it will acquire a slightly different taste.
• You can serve mincemeat on a platter, laying it out in the form of a bar or a slide. Using silicone baking molds or molds for salads and side dishes, herring pate can be given another shape. This appetizer can also be served in portions. It is also a good idea to use it for making sandwiches, toast and other similar dishes.

Below you will find both traditional (classic) mincemeat recipes and modern ones. Choose any!

Interesting Facts

Initially, minced meat was considered a dish of the poor. Those in whose house there were only the cheapest products: stale bread and terribly salted herring. And only over time, the poor people’s snack migrated to holiday tables and turned into a calling card of national Jewish cuisine.

In different parts of the world, the question of how to make mincemeat from herring is answered differently. Odessa residents, for example, add grated apple to this dish for airiness and light sourness. In the vast expanses of Russia, a recipe with processed cheese and carrots is popular. And in Israel, the constant ingredient of forshmak is a stale loaf.

At its core, forshmak is finely chopped herring. And finely chopped herring is a pate. “So what does Jewish cuisine have to do with it?” you ask, pointing to the French roots of all pates. Historians debated this issue for a long time and came to a unanimous conclusion: the pate philosophy was brought to France by the Jews. They were looking for refuge, fleeing persecution in Europe, and found it there.

Forschmak is a German word that translated into Russian means “anticipation.”

Classic mincemeat recipe (according to GOST)

What do you need:

• herring fillet – 0.21 kg (or the uncut herring itself weighing about 0.43-0.44 kg);
• boiled potatoes (peeled) – 0.45 kg (or 0.6 kg of raw potatoes);
• onions (peeled) – 100 g (or 110 g unpeeled);
• refined vegetable oil – 100 ml;
• mayonnaise – 50 ml;
• parsley – 70 g;
• chicken egg – 1 pc.

How to cook:

1. Boil the peeled potatoes in unsalted water. Without cooling, grate it or mash it with a masher. After this, let the potatoes cool.
2. Fillet the herring, cut it and turn it through a meat grinder.
3. Peel and cut the onion into several pieces. Scroll through a meat grinder and it.
4. Finely chop the parsley. Approximately 40 g of greens will go into the mincemeat itself, the rest will be needed for serving.
5. Combine mashed potatoes with onions and herring. Add parsley and oil to them. Mix well. Shape into a loaf.
6. Lubricate the potato and herring “loaf” with mayonnaise and place in an oven preheated to 180-200 degrees for 5-7 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with remaining parsley and finely chopped boiled egg.

This recipe for mincemeat as a cold appetizer is contained in a collection of recipes for catering establishments, which in Soviet times was used by all canteens, cafes and restaurants. According to the given recipe you will get 1 kg of mincemeat. 100-150 g are required per serving. That is, you will receive 10 servings of snacks at once.

Jewish herring forshmak

What do you need:

• lightly salted herring – 0.35-0.4 kg;
• onion – 100 g;
• loaf (stale crumb) – 60 g;
• table vinegar (9 percent) - 20 ml (or 30 ml apple cider vinegar 6 percent);
• vegetable oil – 80-100 ml;
• butter (or spread, margarine) – 0.25-0.3 kg;
• soda - on the tip of a knife.

How to cook:

1. Fillet a large herring and cut into pieces.
2. Peel the onion and cut into several pieces.
3. Sprinkle the bread with vinegar and oil.
4. Scroll all components through a meat grinder. It is better to alternate the pieces.
5. Add soda, stir.
6. Combine the herring mass with softened butter. Stir with a wooden spoon. Beat with a mixer or blender.
7. Cover the mold with cling film, place the resulting mass in it, and cool.

Turn the form with the mincemeat over the dish and remove the cling film from the appetizer. As a result, you will get a pate that has a beautiful shape. This mincemeat is convenient to spread on bread.

Mustard plus milk

The secret of this recipe is to pre-soak the herring in milk. Place the prepared and cleaned fish in a bowl of milk and leave to sit for a couple of hours. Then take it out and blot it with a paper napkin. Grind the fillet in a blender or meat grinder. Add a little hot mustard (not French and especially not American for French fries: it has a lot of vinegar and is not spicy enough). Beat in a blender along with butter. You can add a little fresh dill: it will highlight the fishy taste. But you can do without greens. Place the mixture in the refrigerator and let it harden a little. The dish can be served as an independent dish on a small plate, or used as a filling for dough baskets, canapés or other buffet products.

Odessa-style herring forshmak

What do you need:

• lightly salted herring – 0.35 kg;
• onion – 100 g;
• chicken egg – 2 pcs.;
• apple – 150 g;
• apple cider vinegar (6 percent) – 20 ml;
• butter – 100 g;
• ground black pepper - to taste.

How to cook:

1. Gut the herring, removing the black film lining the belly. Remove the skin. Separate the fillet from the spinal bone. Use tongs to remove small seeds. Cut the herring fillet into small pieces.
2. Cut the onion into large cubes.
3. Peel and coarsely chop the apple.
4. Scroll the prepared products through a meat grinder or grind them using a blender.
5. Add finely chopped or grated boiled eggs, softened butter, pepper and vinegar. Beat with a blender or mixer.

It is customary to serve Odessa mincemeat on slices of toasted (dried) rye bread.

Herring forshmak with melted cheese and carrots

What do you need:

• lightly salted herring fillet – 0.2 kg;
• caviar or milk - from 1 herring (salted);
• carrots – 0.3 kg;
• processed cheese – 100 g;
• butter – 120-150 g.

How to cook:

1. After removing the butter from the refrigerator, immediately turn it through a meat grinder. Follow with the cheese.
2. Boil the carrots in their skins, cool, peel, then chop using kitchen equipment or simply grate (finely).
3. Cut the herring into fillets. Grind through a meat grinder along with milk or caviar.
4. Combine all the ingredients and mix them well (you can even use a blender or mixer).

The resulting snack is usually used to make sandwiches. Sometimes it is even called false caviar.

Forshmak with melted cheese without carrots

What do you need:

• lightly salted herring fillet – 0.2-0.25 kg;
• processed cheese – 100 g;
• butter – 60 g;
• stale white bread crumb - 50 g;
• boiled water – 50 ml;
• dill – 20 g;
• onions – 75 g.

How to cook:

1. Place the pieces of herring and cheese in a blender bowl. Grind.
2. Add bread soaked in water, chopped onion, dill.
3. Turn on the blender again and turn the contents of the glass into a homogeneous mass.
4. Add softened butter, beat.

Mincemeat made according to this recipe can be served on bread or in portioned vases.

Ingredients

Everything you need to make homemade herring oil is always available at the market or supermarket. We buy two thick herrings (under no circumstances take preserves, even in their own juice, namely two barrel-salted fish) and a pack of good cow butter (at least 72% fat, preferably Vologda). We'll talk about other additives a little later.

Forshmak with salmon and red caviar

What do you need:

• herring – 1 pc.;
• lightly salted salmon – 150 g;
• red caviar – 50 g;
• semi-hard cheese – 0.2 kg;
• butter (or spread) – 0.2-0.25 kg;
• lemon juice – 20 ml;
• table mustard – 10 ml;
• dill, parsley - for decoration.

How to cook:

1. Cut the herring and salmon fillets and pass through a meat grinder.
2. Finely grate the cheese.
3. Keep the butter at room temperature for a while until it becomes soft.
4. Combine the ingredients, adding mustard and lemon juice, beat with a blender or just mix well.
5. Place the mincemeat in a foil-lined form, cool, and place on a plate.

Garnish the herring pate with red caviar and herbs and serve. This treat can be made for any holiday.

Forshmak: secrets of preparing the legendary snack

This traditional appetizer is best prepared from lightly salted herring

• But, if you purchased overly salted fish, excess salt can be removed with milk. You can also use tea for this purpose. Green is best
• In order for the dish to turn out tasty and pleasant to look at, it needs to be prepared from whole herring, and not already cut into pieces
• A blender is suitable for preparing mincemeat in the form of a pate. But, if you want small pieces left in the appetizer, then prepare it using a meat grinder
• You can also use this dish for a holiday table. To do this, place mincemeat among tartlets and garnish with herbs, olives or cheese. This appetizer, decorated with pomegranate seeds, will look very nice.
• You can also serve this dish at the festive table in the form of small sandwiches - canapés. To do this, you need to fry pieces of bread and put this snack on them. On top of these canapés you can decorate with a slice of fresh cucumber or a thin piece of herring

Forshmak from chopped herring with nuts

What do you need:

• lightly salted herring fillet – 0.4 kg;
• chicken egg – 3 pcs.;
• large apple – 1 pc.;
• onions – 0.2 kg;
• walnut kernels – 0.2 kg;
• apple cider vinegar (6 percent) – 40 ml;
• butter – 60 g.

How to cook:

1. Hard boil and cool the eggs.
2. Lightly toast the nuts in a dry frying pan.
3. Peel the apple and remove the core.
4. Remove the skins from the bulbs.
5. Grind nuts, eggs, apple and onion using a meat grinder.
6. Finely chop the herring fillet with a knife.
7. Mix the prepared products by adding softened oil and vinegar.

All that remains is to cool the pate and serve. Nuts give mincemeat, made according to the above recipe, a soft and noble taste.

Baked herring mincemeat with potatoes, apple and mustard

What do you need:

• herring – 1 pc.;
• potatoes – 1.5 kg;
• chicken egg – 1 pc.;
• refined vegetable oil – 30 ml;
• butter – 90 g;
• apple – 1 pc.;
• onion (onion) – 100 g;
• salt, ground black pepper - to taste;
• table mustard – 20 ml;
• pomegranate juice – 20 ml;
• hard cheese – 100 g.

How to cook:

1. Peel the potatoes, cut them, add water and boil until soft.
2. Drain excess liquid from potatoes and add butter.
3. Mash the potatoes into a puree.
4. Cut the herring into fillets. Cut it into small cubes.
5. Finely chop the onion, peeled apple and hard-boiled eggs.
6. Place herring, eggs, apples and onions in a bowl. Add pomegranate juice, mustard and 2-3 teaspoons of vegetable oil to them, mix.
7. Grease a heatproof dish with the remaining oil, pour half of the mashed potatoes into it, and smooth it out.
8. Place the herring filling on the potatoes, then cover them with the remaining potatoes.
9. Finely grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the potatoes.
10. Place the mold with potatoes and herring in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, and bake the mincemeat for 20-30 minutes.

This appetizer can be served hot or cold.

How to cook mincemeat without herring?

In East Prussia, where, according to legend, this culinary masterpiece originated, mincemeat was prepared from chicken meat

And only later, when this dish came to the Jewish community of Austria-Hungary, they began to use herring instead of chicken.

• Boil chicken meat (1 thigh) and potatoes. Finely chop the onion (half a head) and fry it in butter. Press the finished potatoes (1 pc.) with a fork and add them to the onion. Fry for 2 minutes
• Add flour (1 tablespoon) to the puree, mix and fry for a few more minutes. Add sour cream (1 tablespoon) and butter (1 tablespoon). Stir until smooth
• We clean the finished chicken meat from bones and skin. Grind into small pieces by hand. Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix. Add yolk, pepper and salt. Mix to a paste consistency
• Separately, beat the egg whites with a mixer. When it reaches the state of hard peaks, add the mixture obtained in the blender to it and mix gently
• Grease the baking dish with oil, spread the mixture and bake in the oven. Before putting it in the oven, you can add grated cheese on top of this mincemeat