SOS: herring, cheese and snaps
6 servings
45 minutes
A traditional Swedish holiday snack. SOS stands for sill (herring), ost (cheese) and snaps (traditional Swedish vodka). Snaps is often replaced by smör (butter) in the abbreviation, because snaps are desirable , but not necessary. Swedes like to marinate herring in a variety of ways and like it when there are several types on the table: with mustard, onion, garlic, dill, beetroot, curry and so on. They eat it plain, on bread with butter, on crispbread , with boiled potatoes, with sour cream - and with aged cheese.
1
Slice the onion and carrot into rings. In a medium-sized pot, mix one teaspoon of vinegar, two teaspoons of sugar, three teaspoons of water, a bay leaf, and five peppercorns. Bring the marinade to a boil and cook until the sugar dissolves, about five minutes. Cool down.
- 9% table vinegar: 3 teaspoons
- Sugar: 4 teaspoons
- Red onion: 1 head
- Carrot: 1 piece
- Bay leaf: 1 piece
- Allspice berries (whole): 5 piece
2
Cut 500 grams of herring fillet and place it in a deep container, pour in the marinade, add onion and carrot, and mix. Leave in the refrigerator to marinate for two days.
- Lightly salted herring: 1 kg
- Red onion: 1 head
- Carrot: 1 piece
3
Cut 300 grams of herring into pieces. In a bowl, mix mustard and sour cream, one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, and white pepper. Add the prepared herring to them. Mix well and place in a jar. Close the jar with a lid and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least one day.
- Lightly salted herring: 1 kg
- Dijon mustard: 2 tablespoons
- Sour cream: 4 tablespoons
- Salt: 1 teaspoon
- Sugar: 4 teaspoons
- Ground white pepper: to taste
4
Also chop the remaining herring. Finely chop the cherry tomatoes and mix with tomato juice, tomato puree, olive oil, one teaspoon of sugar, and a couple of drops of vinegar. Mix the herring with the tomato marinade and refrigerate for at least four hours.
- Lightly salted herring: 1 kg
- Cherry tomatoes: 6 pieces
- Tomato juice: 200 ml
- Tomato puree: 1 teaspoon
- Olive oil: 2 tablespoons
- Sugar: 4 teaspoons
- 9% table vinegar: 3 teaspoons
5
Cut the hard cheese into cubes of 1.5 cm sides. Pour in whiskey and let it sit in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.
- Hard cheese: 200 g
- Whisky: 1 tablespoon
6
Mix softened butter with caviar until smooth. Spread a thin layer of butter with caviar on rye crackers. Serve everything together: three types of pickled herring, cheese, and crackers. Wash it down with dark beer or schnapps.
- Butter: 100 g
- Herring roe: 20 g