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A period dish

Soused Herring

Herrings boiled or fried, then covered in spiced vinegar and kept in a crock for a day or more.

Serves 6

Sousing preserved fish in spiced vinegar and kept it good for days, which made it valuable in a household without ice. The herring took on the vinegar's sharpness and the spice, and improved overnight.

Ingredients

Produce

  • 1 onion

Oils & Vinegars

  • 2 cup vinegar

Pantry / Durable

  • 1 tbsp sugar

Spices & Seasoning

  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 2 bay leaf

Other

  • 6 herring

Method

  1. Clean the herrings, remove the heads, and pat them dry.

  2. Fry or gently poach the fish until just cooked, then lay them in a shallow dish.

  3. Boil vinegar with sliced onion, peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a little sugar.

  4. Pour the hot spiced vinegar over the fish and leave them to cool.

  5. Cover the dish and keep it in a cool place for at least a day before eating.

Adapted from The Compleat Housewife.

Served at

A lens grinder's table · Amsterdam, Netherlands