How to cook forshmak from herring: a “poor” snack for a rich table

What is the name of the dish? Forshmak, or “Gehakte Goering,” as the Jews call it, is the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning Jewish cuisine. Kosher herring has long been rooted in this national gastronomic tradition. Jews serve mincemeat as a cold appetizer. But Russians and Swedes mean by this word a hot fish casserole, "sailing" from Prussian cuisine.

Philologists have a completely different view of the problem: they interpret the word “foreshmak” outside the culinary context as something shameful, shameful, and unacceptable to an intelligent society.

Interesting Facts

Initially, the minced meat was considered a dish of the poor. Those in whose house there were only the cheapest products: stale bread and terribly salty herring. And only with time did the poor people's appetizer migrate to the festive tables and turn into a business card of the national Jewish cuisine.

In different parts of the world, the question of how to make a forshmak from a herring is answered differently. Odessans, for example, add a grated apple to this dish - for airiness and light acidity. In the vast expanses of Russia, a recipe with cream cheese and carrots is popular. And in Israel, the invariable ingredient of foreshmak is a stale loaf.

In its essence, mincemeat is a finely chopped herring. A finely chopped herring is a paste. “So what does Jewish cuisine have to do with it?”, You ask, pointing to the French roots of all the pastes. Historians have argued for a long time about this and came to the unanimous conclusion: Jews brought the paste philosophy to France. They sought refuge, fleeing persecution in Europe, and found it there.

What is the “salt” and the benefits

The main role in foreshake is assigned to herring. The Swedes, in whom this fish is considered a national product, like to repeat: "Herring is on the table, the doctor is on the sidelines." And not without reason. Salted herring is a tasty medicine that prevents the development of cardiovascular ailments. Helen Lindquist, a Swedish scientist, in the course of the research concluded: the more herring in the human diet, the lower the risk of developing heart disease and atherosclerosis. But this is not the only advantage of this product.

• Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Acids vital for the mental development of babies. They are also an excellent prevention of atherosclerosis of blood vessels.
• Vitamin D. Responsible for the reliable functioning of the kidneys, as well as for bone density.
• Iodine. In 100 g of slightly salted herring contains half the daily requirement of this substance necessary for the human body.
• Phosphorus. It is the key to good memory and strong bones.
• Herring fat. It affects fat cells, reducing their size and number. This gives the right to argue that herring in the diet significantly reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Antioxidants. Substances that, when released into the blood, reduce the concentration of oxidation products and prevent the aging of the body.

Classic step-by-step recipe for herring mincemeat: 2 options

A popular recipe for herring mincemeat is based on a delicate mixture of eggs, butter, onions and salted herring. The result is a cross between a salad, herring oil and paste.But this does not mean at all that the supply of forcemeat with potatoes will be a bad manners. The dish will perfectly complement the potato side dish. And as an appetizer on brown bread toasts, it will look wonderful. How is this miracle dish done!

In Odessa

Feature. Forshmak is a dish of Jewish and at the same time Odessa cuisine. It is Odessa, not Ukrainian. For several centuries, a large Jewish community lived in this city near the Black Sea. Therefore, in the culinary context, the word “Jewish” and “Odessa” have an equal sign. The secret in Odessa air forshmak is a fat, slightly salted herring and an apple, which is not in the Jewish version of the snack. For cooking, you can use very salted herring. However, before making it the basis of mincemeat, the fish must be soaked for two hours in a strong brewing of black tea. Alternatively, milk can be used for soaking.

You will need:

• herring - alone;
• Simirenko sour apple - one;
• onion - one;
• boiled egg - one;
• butter - 100 g;
• lemon juice - a tablespoon;
• salt, ground black pepper - to taste.

Cooking Algorithm

1. With a knife, make an incision along the back of the herring and manually disconnect the bone together with large bones from the fillet.
2. Remove the skin from herring fillets, cut into large pieces and send to a blender.
3. Peel an apple of the Simirenko variety, remove the middle and cut into cubes. Sprinkle with lemon juice immediately after slicing. This trick will prevent the apples from blackening and spoiling the color of the finished snack.
4. We peel and chop the onion and send it along with the apples to a herring in a blender.
5. Beat the products in a blender, and then, for maximum grinding, we pass the resulting mass through a meat grinder.
6. We put the almost ready mincemeat into the blender, add the oil softened at room temperature, the boiled yolk separated from the protein, and grind everything again.
7. Put the mincemeat in a container, cover with a lid and send it to the refrigerator for several hours.

In Jewish

Feature. The Jewish recipe for the forshmak from herring, like Odessa, claims to be authentic - that is, genuine, classic. Favorite food is cooked without eggs and without an apple. But with a stale loaf - as if recalling that a long time ago this dish was food for the poor.

You will need:

• herring - alone;
• onion - one;
• pieces of stale loaf - two or three;
• butter - 250 g;
• vinegar - two tablespoons;
• soda - a pinch;
• sunflower oil - 50 g.

Cooking algorithm step by step

1. We clean the herring from the bones, cut into pieces.
2. We clean and cut the onion into four parts.
3. Peel the slices of the loaf and sprinkle the bread with vinegar.
4. Twice we pass the bread together with fish and onions through the millstone of a meat grinder.
5. We mix the resulting herring oil with butter, previously softened at room temperature. For mixing, use a wooden spoon.
6. Add a little vegetable oil to the resulting mixture. Mix until smooth and gradually pour in the remaining portion.
7. Pour a pinch of soda into the mass and continue whisking with a wooden spoon. Forshmak in front of his eyes should lighten and gain an airy consistency.

And how to prepare a dish with us

Forshmak in Russia may not be as popular as among the Jews, but it occupies a worthy place in the culinary bookmarks of Russian housewives. Of course, to the classic version, “ours” added their own flavor and not one.

Gehakte Goering by Ilya Lazerson

Feature. Ilya Lazerson - the constant presenter of the beloved television program of all bachelors called “Celibacy Lunch” - offers his own version of the foresight. The highlight of Lazerson's recipe is that he took the best from the Odessa and Jewish variants, offering the audience a tasty symbiosis.

You will need:

• pickled herring - one;
• sour apple - one;
• boiled chicken egg - three pieces;
• shallots - one large onion;
• sour cream - 100 g;
• black and white bread.

Cooking Algorithm

1. Cook eggs until cooked.
2. Remove the crust from white bread and send the crumb to a bowl with a little water to soften.
3. Peel the onion and apple and cut in any way.
4. We cut herring and mill it.
5. In a blender bowl we send egg whites, pieces of herring, chopped apples and onions, as well as a mass of white bread pressed from water and grind.
6. Pieces of black bread sliced ​​into portioned breads are fried in a pan without oil.
7. For each piece that has not yet cooled down, put the mincemeat, season with sour cream on top and sprinkle the yolks grated on a fine grater.

"Bright" option with carrots and cream cheese

Feature. Many people consider forshmak a dish, although incredibly tasty, but faded and visually uninteresting. Carrots will help to correct the situation. Sunny notes are what you need to turn a boring fish snack into a bright spot on the festive table. But cream cheese is added to the list of ingredients for a reason. It makes the appetizer more tender and creamy. Domestic housewives love to cook mincemeat from herring with carrots. And although this recipe is far from classical, it is tasty and interesting in its own way. And in consistency, it completely resembles a cream.

You will need:

• herring - alone;
• medium carrot - one;
• processed cheese - packaging;
• the egg is one;
• butter - 100 g;
• salt and black pepper to taste.

Cooking Algorithm

1. Boil carrots and eggs in different pans, peel them and, together with the chopped herring, send them to the blender bowl.
2. Add the cream cheese and the required amount of butter. Close the lid and beat thoroughly so that all the ingredients turn into a homogeneous creamy mixture.
3. Spread in a large bowl, salt and pepper, and then lightly beat the mass with a mixer so that its texture is saturated with air and becomes even more magnificent.
4. Forshmak from herring with cream cheese is ready. It remains to serve it beautifully on a toast or as part of a sandwich.

Aunt Sarah's 5 Tips

How to cook beshbarmak.Making mincemeat from herring is a simple task. But even this simple and understandable dish can be made perfect and unique in taste. Five secrets of the Jewish housewives will help in this. Who-who, and they certainly know a lot about herring oil.

1. Dish texture. If it seemed to you that the mincemeat is too buttery and smooth, then the next time the main ingredient of the dish - herring - you can just chop finely with a knife. And the rest of the "non-fish" ingredients will need to, like last time, be chopped on a blender and minced.
2. The role of filling. Forshmak can be served in different ways, not just in tandem with a side dish or on bread toasts. You can use it as a filling for pancakes, baskets of dough or halves of boiled protein that remained after removing the yolk.
3. Craving for experiments. Once you have prepared the mincemeat according to the classic recipe, you can safely experiment in subsequent times. Replace the apple with boiled potatoes. Instead of fresh onions, add passivated to the dish. Season the prepared mincemeat with a spoon of mustard or crumble fresh or pickled cucumber without skin into the fish mass.
4. Attention to the dishes. Housewives with experience recommend using dishes made of material that does not react with vinegar or soda to prepare the forshmak.
5. Vegetable Oil Selection. Fragrant sunflower oil is not suitable for this dish of Jewish cuisine because of the strong characteristic aroma. The ideal option is a refined, odorless product.

Adherents of the philosophy of proper nutrition are unlikely to become interested in the question of how to cook mincemeat from herring, but in vain. In this fish snack, folk wisdom collected everything that an active person needs for a day - from vitamins and amino acids to daily portions of iron and phosphorus. And by the way, don’t be alarmed if your foreshmak turns out to be slightly liquid. Just send it to the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes - and the snack will become as it should (as in the photo).

Reviews: “Perfectly complements morning coffee!”

I’m far from Odessa and not Jewish! But I really like mincemeat and often cook it! Perfectly complements morning coffee! Only I have my own recipe: 1 herring, 1 sour apple, 1 cheese Friendship, 2 boiled eggs, 100 grams of butter, salt, lemon juice and ground pepper. Beat everything with a blender.

Natalya, http://notefood.ru/retsepty-blyud/salaty-i-zakuski/receptu-prigotovleniya-forshmaka-iz-seledki.html

It is easy to cut herring: cut off the head and tail, from below - the tummy, rinse from the insides, draw your index finger along the entire spine (next to it), divide into two parts and from below, pull the skin up from the tail, it will easily separate.
But the mincemeat has never been cooked before, ashamed :) Probably my grandmother the mincemeat did not impress me in childhood, but the children, in general, are not very fond of herring.

ljubush, https://belan-olga.livejournal.com/427262.html

One day, for the first time I tried forshmak, I was delighted! The hostess gave a recipe: herring, eggs, butter, fried onions and a sweet and sour apple. The herring should be lightly salted, and all components must be MANDATORY finely chopped with a knife, no meat grinder! Now we are preparing the mincemeat with my husband: I take out the bones, fry the onions, and he cuts it all finely.

Lena_0302, http://www.vseblyuda.ru/item/58/forshmak-iz-seledki-recept-foto/

I was born and lived for 25 years in a communal apartment where, after the war, Jews settled in the house. For the entire 5-storey building there were 4 families of other nationalities. the neighbors very tasty cooked both mincemeat and stuffed fish and “Napoleon” and other goodies. so here! Boiled potatoes were always added to the mincemeat. and no mayonnaise. it's all newfangled recipes! Herring was usually salty and nobody steeped it. Boiled eggs lay −50 to 50, like apples. but onions, potatoes, butter and a white French bun, soaked ONLY in milk.

Masha arno, http://lady.tochka.net/28352-forshmak-klassicheskiy-retsept/

I recommend putting the mincemeat on a sliced ​​French loaf with butter, YES OILED OIL! And loaves of bread in mincemeat is not necessary, but to soak the herring in milk - that’s it. Forshmak tastes good when chilled IN MEASURE. In no case do nano paste, only in SMALL pieces.

Alexander Artym, https://mag.relax.ua/eda/recepty/10455373-forshmak/

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