Herring and Beet Salad

⏳ Time

30 minutes

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

The Finnish Christmas table looks quite austere. Traditionally, it features a baked ham, marinated salmon known as gravlax (the name translates to 'buried salmon'), buried under layers of salt and dill, as well as three casseroles made from rutabaga, carrots, and beets, in gratitude to nature for the meager northern harvest. A week before Christmas Eve, Finns bake their Christmas rye bread. The role of the hearty salad that a tipsy Finn might gently lean his face into is played by rosolli—a dish that is a cross between a vinaigrette and herring under a fur coat, serving as clear evidence that Nordic cuisine, in its home-cooked form, is by no means lacking in simplicity.

Ingredients

Beetroot - 8.1 oz
Coarse Salt - 2.5 oz
Sugar - 6.3 oz
Bay leaf - 5 pieces
Champagne Vinegar - 5 fl oz
Cinnamon - 1 piece
Clove - 1 tablespoon
Allspice berries - 1 tablespoon
White Pepper (whole) - ½ spoons
Spanish onions - 1 head
Granny Smith apples - 1 piece
Potato - 3.9 oz
Pickles - 3.9 oz
Sour Cream - 0.7 oz
Scallions - 0.5 oz
Dill - 0.5 oz
Salt - to taste
Ground Black Pepper - to taste
Whipped Cream - 1 fl oz

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 392°F. Place the peeled beets on a bed of coarse salt in a deep baking tray and cover with foil. Roast until tender, about one hour. Boil the potatoes until soft.

Step 2

Cool the beetroot and potatoes, then slice them. In a bowl, mix 600 ml of water with vinegar and sugar, and add all the spices.

Step 3

Immerse the beet slices, sliced onions, and apple wedges in the marinade. Let it sit for 2 hours, then drain the liquid and remove the spices. Add the potatoes, chopped herring, sour cream, and finely chopped herbs. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the unsweetened cream.