I go down the list. “Best smørrebrød,” “king of smørrebrøds,” “serving the finest herring dishes since 1877.” The accolades continue, each proclaiming to be the worthiest of what Copenhagen has to offer. How am I to choose? There’s only one way to determine whether any of these places have the quality to support their assertions.
I’m not going to be convinced by medals displayed in their lobbies, or their names catalogued on some esoteric guide. I won’t accept celebrity endorsements or chef reviews. I can’t trust online surveys or even local recommendations. No. I’ve got to do the only thing I can to convince myself of the best herring in Copenhagen. I’m going to go on the great taste test.
The view at the first restaurant is sublime. Right by the waterfront white umbrellas shelter us from eager gulls. But, I mustn’t get distracted by ambience. The silver darlings arrive laid out on dark rye bread and blanketed by a snow of cilantro. They reek of vinegar and the sea…or is that the harbor I’m smelling? It’s my first go so I reserve judgment.
The second place is tiled with a lot of walnut furniture. My dish comes on a plank, presented like sushi: on the left toast points, in the middle fish, on the right mustard sauce. I’m intrigued by the presentation, but can’t tell the difference between the separate clumps of sliced seafood.
The third eatery serves me their combination platter on sixteen small ceramic salvers. Against the ash-hued terra-cotta background the elegant slivers topped with bright green dill and lemon wedges perch like stilettos at a shoe boutique. I’m afraid to ruin the look by shoving them into my mouth.
On and on it goes. Eventually, I’m too lost or too drunk on the flavorless glasses of aqua vita that go down like water to have an opinion on the best herring in town. Was it the triple sauces that I preferred? Or the one accompanied by a ramekin of capers? Or the ones displayed like petalled roses?
Taste, it turns out is impartial. There are only five that exist for humans: sweet, salt, bitter, sour and umami. Flavor, however, is subjective.
So who gets to decide what constitutes great flavor? Does one person’s love of fermented food translate if another person gets put-off by acrid taste? Can a lover of dairy trust the advice of the lactic intolerant? Why are vegetarian dishes compared to meat flavors to appeal to the masses?
Why is the use of heavy salt and butter seen as the epitome of haute cuisine by some? Shouldn’t spice blends be equally lauded in culinary academies? I try to implement parameters into my herring evaluation, but the overall metal feel on my tongue precludes any deep analysis. Other than that all the dishes were fresh and edible, I’ve come up with nothing.
Perhaps all awards and certifications restrict our collective imaginations because they inherently involve some level of gatekeeping. I get easily convinced by the stickers on my grocery products advertising “voted best biscuit since 1924,” “finest in the land from those who know,” “farmers choose Farmer’s Brand.”
In the end I’m the only one who can judge what tastes great to me. So, I’ll have to do the hard work of being my own taste-tester when I want to find ‘the best’ of any dish. It’s a challenge I relish when traveling but one I avoid at home, claiming lack of time and interest. But, if I don’t do the legwork of critiquing the food I consume, how will I ever truly know what tastes great?
BT’s HERRING 3 WAYS RECIPE
Serves 4 persons
Total Time: 20 minutes [Prep Time = 20 minutes]
Serves 4 persons
Total Time: 2 days 1 hour [Prep Time = 1 hour]
Serves 4 persons
Total Time: 20 minutes [Prep Time = 5 minutes, Cook Time = 15 minutes]
WHAT YOU NEED
Ingredients for Curried Herring
Ingredients for Pickled Herring
Ingredients for Fried Herring
- 350 grams herring fillets
- 1 Tbsp curry powder
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 70 grams mayonnaise
- 1 dL creme fraiche
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 Tbsp capers
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 400 grams Baltic herring
- 1 medium carrot
- ½ red onion
- 10 cm leek
- 12 whole allspice
- 1 dL 12% solution vinegar
- 2 dL sugar
- 3 dL water
- 4 whole Atlantic herring
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 Tbsp butter
- salt to taste
- white pepper to taste
WHAT TO DO
For Curried Herring
- Drain herring if necessary and cut into fillets.
- Fry curry powder in vegetable oil for 1 minute and allow to cool.
- Mix mayonnaise, creme fraîche, curry oil, and mustard seeds. Add capers.
- Season to taste with sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Gently mix the herring pieces into the curry mixture.
- Serve herring on dark rye bread slices with a sprinkling of fresh dill.*
For Pickled Herring
- Distill a large glass jar by washing it and boiling it for 10 minutes. Let it cool.
- For whole herrings, wash them, then put them in a tray with salty water for 30 min, making sure the saltiness is around sea level.
- Rinse the herrings, trim off the tail and fat part along the stomach edge. Cut herring fillets into bite-size pieces.
- Peel the carrot and chop into circles. Cut the onion and leek into thin slices.
- Prepare the brine by putting the spirit vinegar, sugar, and water in a saucepan and bringing to a boil. Then simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Let the brine cool.
- Layer the herring fillets, carrot slices, onion, and leek inside the jar. Add the whole allspice.
- Pour in the brine until it covers the herring completely.
- Seal the jar and place it in the fridge for two days.
- Enjoy with a sprinkle of dill on top. *
For Fried Herring
- Season herring fillets with salt and white pepper.
- Also mix salt and white pepper into flour. Place flour mixture on clean flat platter.
- Dredge herrings in flour mixture, coating generously on both sides.
- Heat one tablespoon of butter in a frying pan over medium heat until butter foams and almost begins to brown.
- Fry herring in butter for three minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
- Serve with jam or sliced lemon on the side.
* BT Tip: You can substitute fresh chopped parsley or diced chives for the dill.
How do food awards and recommendations affect your opinion about certain dishes and restaurants?
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Now if only I can get some fresh herrings down here in Portugal, I’d try those recipes!
Ah! Only the canned varieties available in Portugal?
“In the end I’m the only one who can judge what tastes great to me” – I love this! and you are absolutely right – chasing the “Best of …” according to someone else can be fraught with all sort so pitfalls. In the end, it is our taste buds, our meal, our well-being.
Thank you so much for your kind words and it delights me to hear this post spoke to you so much. Wishing you a wonderful November.
Perhaps it’s not the answer (conclusion), but the searching for it, that really matters. Perhaps. 🙂
Indeed! For some of us, it’s fun to go on a taste adventure, for others not so much…🙂
The photos of the herring are SO beautiful. I didn’t know it was possible.
I am not a seafood person, but the three different ways to prepare herring look intriguing. My husband loves fish, so I must give at least one a try.
I love the poetic way you talk about taste and flavours, and how much can we really trust another person’s flavour preferences? Yet, how much can we trust our own? When I was a kid, I hated cheese. As an adult, I love it. I’ve been losing my love of salty snacks and replacing it with a newfound obsession with wine gums. (I know, it doesn’t make any sense to me, either.)
Anyway, thank you for another beautiful piece – both the words and the images.
“Yet, how much can we trust our own?” How I wish I’d also had time to delve into the ways our own taste preferences change! That’s such an intriguing nuance to the whole question of who gets to determine good/bad when it comes to flavor profiles. Loving your newfound obsession. Hadn’t even known wine gums were a thing! Must try and find some for myself. Thank you for your lovely compliment!
The herrings look so nice to taste. Well done food photography
Great post, and I am interested in trying herrings. I do love sardines, and eat them regularly (as well as having my favorite brands). Will give the herrings a try :-).
Thank you Dalo! I’ll be curious to find out what you think of the herrings in your own taste test!
Thank you for sharing your entertaining and insightful culinary adventure! Your journey through the world of herring dishes in Copenhagen is both captivating and relatable. Your exploration of taste and flavor highlights the subjectivity of culinary experiences. It’s a reminder that personal preferences play a significant role in determining what tastes great to each individual. Your conclusion about being your own taste-tester and taking the time to truly appreciate and evaluate the food you consume is a valuable takeaway. Keep embracing those flavorful journeys and enjoying the process of discovering what tastes great to you!
Thank you so much for your visit and your kind and encouraging comment! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the post.
Delicious recipe! 👌
Thank you!
My pleasure
Great post. Great string of comments.
Cheers
Keith
http://www.lifesliceblogs.com
Thank you for your visit. Happy to hear you enjoyed the post.
My husband assures me that I have eaten herring … rollmops. I’m not a huge fish fan, especially those with bones. Silly right! Great post for all those herring fans …
Had to look up rollmops…and I too think I’ve had that variety as an hors d’oeuvre at someone’s fete. The bones thing I understand as getting one stuck in your throat is no fun.
I don’t know if you have convinced me that I might like herring! We eat pretty basic stuff. Whenever I try to get fancy I end up wasting money on ingredients I never use again. Our grocery store is almost an hour away so you really have to plan. I like how you illustrated the post. The top image and bottom image are great. Did you do the bottom painting? Great post!
Haha, what a compliment, thank you! Well, if you do try picking up herring from your grocery, let me know how you like it. The bottom painting is actually by the famous artist Van Gogh. Somehow, my little captions don’t seem to be showing up…
❤❤❤
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We tend to have a few places we go to that we know we like – there are so many places out there and as you say, taste is subjective, so we tend not to go for awards and even recommendations vary according to different tastes. I enjoyed your herring journey and the curried herring sounds nice!
Thank you for your lovey compliment and for sharing your restaurant experience! When in a place for awhile I find myself gravitating towards the same restaurants over and over, because I’ve grown so accustomed to them, as well.
I love how lyrical you write about your taste test of herring, Atrayee. It conjures up such vivid images that they could just as well have been edible paintings being served to you.
A visual delight, if not a culinary one to me as a vegetarian. Which brings me to your point `Why are vegetarian dishes compared to meat flavors to appeal to the masses?´ Or for me, why replecating the texture and appearance of meat, which is exactly what is off-putting to me. The last thing I want is to be reminded of meat, which I guess simply means that those specific products are most probably created with those people in mind, who, unlike me, don´t think meat is vile tasting, but would like to become vegetarian because of more noble or for environmental reasons. So yes, flavour is definitely subjective. When I still ate meat I tried to mask the taste with a LOT of spice. I still love interesting spice blends, and adore chillies, but I´ve also come to appreciate ´cleaner´ tastes where the vegetables are the stars, but for that, one definitely needs vegetables that are grown in a way that it actually has a depth of flavour to start with.
As for your question about reviews and recommendations for food or restaurants – I must admit that it can be a challenge at times not to set oneself up for disappointment, and as I love cooking, I often find food in restaurants mediocre in comparison. Hence I tend to save up and splurge in those restaurants where the reviews line up with what I look for in a restaurant meal, which can be difficult to define to be honest, as it is more of a sense, and as such I am usually not disappointed.
Oh, thank you for your many pronged feedback! So much to parse through, which gives me more food for thought. I’ve found that outside the northern American hemisphere it is far easier to find vegetarian dishes that are happy to be themselves, and don’t go parading around as “just-like-meat” varieties. You may have unlocked the key to this in how food is grown in places that are less heavily agriculturally industrialized. As for restaurants, I try to think of them all as little adventures, so as not to be too disappointed at the ones I don’t enjoy. Thanks again and take care.