I’ve been reading the delightful bookRuss & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House That Herring Built (and I know from this book that “deli” is the wrong term for the type of food they sell), and now I’d like people to speak to me of herring, whitefish, smoked and pickled, and all the accoutrements appertaining thereunto.
I feel like I missed out.
In addition to not having had the opportunity to be around black people, I was never around many Jewish people (until I became one. Jewish, that is, not black) and I have a lot of years to make up for in the culinary department. I have tasted pickled herring at the break-the-fast at the synagogue on Yom Kippur, but it didn’t really grab me. I’m willing to give it another try. I do love lox, which I didn’t taste until in my 40’s. When I see those beautiful golden smoked fish at the gourmet grocery store, I wish I knew what to do with them.
Please educate and encourage me in the ways of this cuisine.
I don’t have any advice for you, but I have also been lusting over high-end lox and such after seeing the video here a few weeks ago. I can’t even watch it again, it looks so good, and I’m here in the middle of nowhere where I can’t get ANY such thing as decent lox, not to mention bagels.
I love chopped onions. Tell me more. Do you make a sandwich out of it? Or pile it on crackers? Eat it with a fork out of a bowl? What is the appropriate beverage accompaniment?
This video is exactlyexactly what I was wanting!! Thank you so much. There were lots of bags and containers that they didn’t even get around to opening. I want to know what was in them.
I can’t wrap my head around using the participle “appetizing” as a noun. I’ll just have to take it on faith.
I could actually go to the store and get some okay smoked salmon right now. It’s almost dinner time and I also need light bulbs and AAA batteries. I think I’ll do just that!
The only blip in the video was the use of the word iconic, which needs to be put in a drawer and the drawer locked until about 2050 while I’ll be long dead.
Lox is in a class by itself. There’s a lot of variation out there including smoked versions. Get something they slice in front of you and it’s probably top quality. Basic lox is salmon preserved with salt. Some kinds are salted in brine, other’s are dry salted, and some are preserved in oil, and of them could be very salty or not. Try different forms out to find how you like. Lox on a bagel with cream cheese is exquisite food, but I’ll make a sandwich on any type of bread. I like it with mozzerella or muenster cheese instead of cream cheese. Bits can be used to make a spread or as ingredients in an omelet. There’s a whole world of opinions on lox and how to eat it.
All I can say about pickled herring is that my mother liked it, and I have no idea why.
It just occurred to me that I haven’t heard the word “appetizing,” as a noun, since I lived in NYC. Basically, you can get the same foods in a good deli, but the deli will also sell meat.
I love pickled herring. Eaten straight (although the kind I get has plenty of onions. I prefer without sour cream.) The appropriate beverage is chilled vodka.
It really is the way we ate it in our Polish family. Polish (and other Eastern European cultures) tend to always have food available with alcohol. Pickled herring and onions was one of the typical “appetizers” available (along with smoked sausages, smoked pork loin, little open faced sandwiches, caviar, a variety of pickles, rye bread, etc.) and vodka was a typical drink, of course.
It’s pretty close to being an obsolete word. You almost never hear it.
Herring can come in wine; in sour cream; in mustard; and in salted fat (Schmaltz herring… ew). I like it best in Sour cream. You can eat it straight up in pieces, or put it on a bagel, or a slice of bread. It can be diced fine and mixed with a little sour cream, then it’s herring salad.
Whitefish - smaller smoked fish sold whole. Distinctive golden appearance. You open the belly at the split and flake the fish off the bones. Eat on a bagel or bread with cream cheese. Whitefish can also be mashed fine and then it’s… whitefish salad.
Sable - large smoked white-fleshed fish, always sold sliced or as fillets; I’m not even sure what kind of fish sable comes from. always has a reddish or orange edge when sliced. Place on top of cream cheese on a bagel. No one ever makes sable salad. No idea why.
Lox - varies by point of origin and methodology as already described.
Gravlax - salt cured type of loxish thing
Belly Lox - the cheaper, fattier, saltier part of the lox. Some people prefer it.
Athena, you’re not far from the font, nay the wellspring of all that is holy about Lox in the Midwest: Durham’s Tracklements in Ann Arbor. They ship.
And lest you doubt my judgement, I went to shul with the Federmans, of Russ & Daughter fame.
Every year we would have that type of food to break fast after Yom Kippur. My Mother always would refer to it as “Dairy” which I know is just how her family referred to it. Whitefish (both chubs and salad) Cream cheese, Bagels, were always my favorite. The rest of my family would also have sable, lox and pickled herring. It was one of the highlights of my Fall and I still do it even after she is gone (albeit on a smaller scale).
Not so much into smoked fish, or even pickled fish but I love making lox - and it really is not hard if you have access to a good slab of salmon, kosher salt and fresh dill herb. I think Alton Brown even has a video on youtube for doing it. Here ishis recipe.
On occasion, the Scandinavian half of my ancestry overwhelms me and find myself with an insatiable craving for pickled herring. I usually eat them on top of Triscuits or as part of a sandwich made with a type of bread that’s firm like sourdough wheat and Swiss cheese. I don’t care for the onions that’s included in a typical jar but I can always fish those out.
Unfortunately, the last time I had such a craving for herring it resulted in a bad case of acid reflux.
For the sake of variety, I love herring both with and without the sour cream, always straight from the jar. But either way I always have to add more onions. And my beverage of choice is Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray.
But what I love most is schmaltz herring, though it sends my diet into disarray.
