Forshmak of beef and herring
4 servings
120 minutes
Forshmak is a dish of German origin, and originally it was a hot appetizer. In the same capacity, it came to Russian cuisine during the time of Peter the Great. It was made from raw and boiled meat, from vegetables and mushrooms - but always with the addition of herring. And only much later - in Jewish cuisine - forshmak became what we know it as today: a cold appetizer of chopped herring, with or without an egg, with or without an apple. Preparing it from only salted fish, without meat, was much cheaper, which was appreciated in poor towns. But for our project "Time of Moscow Cuisine" the chef of the restaurant "Proliv" Nikolay Fedotov made a hot forshmak, the way it was three hundred years ago.
1
Soak the herring in milk for a couple of hours.
- Salted herring fillet: 100 g
2
Chop the onion into small cubes. Sauté in melted butter until soft.
- Onion: 100 g
- Clarified butter (ghee): 30 g
3
Separate the whites from the yolks. Whip the whites with a whisk or blender until fluffy.
- Chicken egg: 3 pieces
4
Pass meat (if it's already minced, you can pass it again), fish, fried onions, and peeled potatoes through a meat grinder. Add sour cream, cream (you can use 50 ml of meat broth instead), tomato paste, egg yolks, as well as some grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Knead thoroughly, then introduce whipped egg whites, season with salt and pepper to taste (keeping in mind that the herring already contains salt) and continue kneading until a homogeneous mass is formed.
- Ground beef: 500 g
- Salted herring fillet: 100 g
- Onion: 100 g
- Boiled potatoes: 250 g
- Sour cream 35%: 100 g
- Double cream 40% fat: 50 ml
- Tomato paste: 20 g
- Chicken egg: 3 pieces
- Hard cheese: 50 g
- Breadcrumbs: 50 g
- Salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
5
Grease the baking dish with butter. Pour in the mixture, smooth it out, and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and breadcrumbs.
- Clarified butter (ghee): 30 g
- Hard cheese: 50 g
- Breadcrumbs: 50 g
6
Send the forshmak to an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You can also prepare forshmak in small portion molds for easier serving. Cut the finished forshmak into portions and serve with sour cream or pickled cucumbers. Eat while it's still warm.
- Sour cream 35%: 100 g