Herring salad with beetroot & potatoes

For ➋

200 g maatjes herring*

4 small or 2 large beetroots

500 g small potatoes

1 small red onion

1 tbs (grain) mustard

½ lemon, the juice

2 tbs olive oil + 1 extra dash

1 tbs wine vinegar**

1 bunch of dill

salt & black pepper from the mill

First roast the beetroot in the oven at 180 °C. Place the unpeeled beets on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle with a dash of olive oil, 1 tbs wine vinegar**, a pinch of salt and pepper. Wrap the foil so that no moisture can leak out and roast 40 to 60 m in the oven. The beetroot is done when a potato knife slides through it easily.

Meanwhile, peel the red onion, cut into fine half rings and place in a small bowl. Mix in the juice of ½ lemon, 1 tbs mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside until use and stir whenever you remember. Boil the potatoes in water with a good pinch of salt (no need to peel).

Remove the beetroot from the oven. Let cool, peel and cut into wedges. Cut the drained potatoes in half. Cut the herring into pieces and finely chop the dill.

Mix 2 tbs olive oil under the marinated red onion. Place in a large bowl and mix in the beetroot, potatoes and most of the dill. Finish with the herring and the rest of the dill. Give everything a few extra turns of the pepper mill and a pinch of salt. 

Serve the salad preferably lukewarm.

* Or 200 g herring fillets in vinegar

**Or 1 tbs brine vinegar from the herring

Salade niçoise with maatjes

For ➍ 

4 maatjes (marinated herring fillets)
4 eggs
200 g extra fine princess green beans
250 g cherry tomatoes (or sun-dried tomatoes)
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 bunch scallions
600 g new potatoes
100 g black olives
1 tbs fine sugar*
4 tbp olive oil
4 sprigs fresh thyme
pistou with 4 sprigs of basil**
salt and pepper
dressing:
250 g natural yogurt
2 tbs old-fashioned mustard
5 tbs olive oil
⅓ bunch flat parsley**
pepper & salt
4 sprigs oregano

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Clean the spring onions and cut the baby potatoes into 2. Peel the peppers and cut them into strips.
Cover the oven plate with baking paper and arrange the potatoes on top, with the cutting edge down. Prick holes in the cherry tomatoes with a knife and add them, together with the spring onions, the olives and the bell peppers. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, dust with sugar and sprinkle with thyme and oregano. Bake for 25 m and allow to cool.
Remove the tops of the beans and boil them for 5 m in salted boiling water. Scare them in ice cold water.
Dip the eggs in boiling water. Depending on their size, drain them after 7 to 8 m of cooking time and let them scare in cold water.
Make the dressing: mix the finely chopped parsley** with the other ingredients.
Peel the eggs and cut into 2. Arrange the grilled vegetables and beans on the plates or in a large bowl. Add the eggs, the maatjes and the basil.
Sprinkle with a little dressing and serve.

*Optional.
**Or mix the parsley and the yogurt with the hand blender, instead of chopping finely.

Aardappelsalade met gerookte haring (Flemish potato salad with smoked herring)

For ➍
600 g new potatoes
½ lemon, juice & zest
1 tbs good wine vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs capers
1 ts horseradish relish or 1.5 cm fresh* horseradish
15 cl full cream
1 bunch dill
1 bunch radishes
300 g smoked fish fillets, smoked herring or trout or mackerel
some watercress or purslane (optional).

Scrub the potatoes under running water.
Boil them unpeeled in salted water.
When the potatoes are done, drain and cut into 2 (or 4 if big). Mix them, when they are still hot, with the vinegar, olive oil, capers and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Cut the radishes into thin slices, chop the dill and pull the smoked fish into pieces. Mix with the potatoes and season with pepper and some salt.
Whip the cream. When the cream is stiff, add pepper, salt, grated zest of ½ lemon and horseradish (add 1 ts horseradish from a jar, grate about 1.5 cm fresh horseradish).
Serve the salad with some watercress or purslane and a generous scoop of cream.

This is a re-creation of a classic recipe from an inexpensive workers' restaurant in Ghent. The original recipe might have been inspired by the classic French hors d'oeuvre harengs pommes à l'huile.

Harengs pommes à l'huile (French smoked herring & potato salad)

For ➌-➍
1 very small onion, finely diced
¼ ts sea salt
1 tbs strong Dijon-style mustard
1 ts lemon juice
500 g small new potatoes, evenly sized, about 8, scrubbed but not peeled
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
200 g deboned fillets of smoked herring ('harengs doux'), cut into bite-size pieces*
a small bunch of chervil (substitute parsley or coriander), roughly chopped

In a medium salad bowl, combine the onion, salt, mustard and lemon juice. Let rest to take the edge off the onion.
Place the potatoes in a pan of (unsalted) water. Cover, bring to a low boil, and cook for 12 m, or until cooked through and tender (test with the tip of a knife). Drain and let rest until just cool enough to handle, then slice into 1.5 cm rounds.
Whisk the olive oil into the onion mixture. Add the potatoes and toss to coat. Add the fish and herbs. Stir gently to combine.
Serve immediately for a warm salad; any leftovers can be eaten cold the next day, with the optional addition of lettuce.

*When too salty, soak the fillets overnight in milk or water. Put on a rack, so the fish doesn't touch the bottom to avoid getting more discarded salt. Drain, rinse and dry.
Or marinate the herrings for 30 m in oil, ½ sliced carrot, 1 chopped shallot, coriander, herbes de Provens and 1 bay leave to tenderise them. Dress the plates with a layer of potatoes. Add a layer of fish or complete fillets.

Try the cold Flemish variant of the recipe.

Maatjes (Dutch young herring fillets with bacon & green beans)

For ➍
4 maatjes herring fillets***
1 apple
lemon juice
200 g green beans
pepper & salt
4 slices bacon
1 onion
10 cl milk**
10 g flour**
1 tbs sour cream
oil**
dill

Clean the herrings. Keep them cool.

Cut the apple into cubes. Mix with a little lemon juice.

Clean the beans and cook them briefly in boiling salted water*. Put in ice-cold water. Drain. Dry on a clean linen cloth.

Grill slices of bacon until crisp without additional fat in the oven. Chop.

Cut the onion into rings. Put the rings (about 8) in the milk, then in the flour, put in boiling oil until crisp. Drain and dry. Sprinkle lightly with fine salt.**

Mix the beans with apple and bacon. Season to taste with oil, salt and pepper. Arrange on a plate.

Place a spoonful of sour cream on the side of the plate. Sprinkle with pepper, and decorate with some dill.

Place the herrings on the beans. Rub the herrings with a finger to make them shine. Put fried onions on top**.

*3-5 m, depending on the size for crisp beans.
**Or use the onion rings raw. Or cube the onion and spread it raw on the fillets.
***Use high quality Swedish pickled herring instead. Their sweet marinade come close to the taste of very young herrings. Drain well in kitchen tissue to avoid messy wetness.

'Maatjes' are young herrings, known as Hollandse Nieuwe, is a typical Dutch delicacy. The raw young herrings, from catches around the end of spring or beginning of summer and the beginning, are eaten with raw onion and a glass of good jenever (Dutch gin). The tradition dates back to 1380 when Willem Beukelsstraat of Biervliet in Zeeland invented a method to cure herring fillets with the enzymes of their own pancreas, called 'kaken'. The method is still used today, but for safety reasons, today all maatjes are frozen to kill germs.
It is also very popular in Belgium, where it is sometimes used for a little more elaborated dishes.

tip: cooking red beets

Cook beetroots with the skin on to preserve colour and nutrition value. Place them in a large pot then cover with cold water. Add 1 ts sugar + 1 ts salt, then cover. Turn heat on high until water begins to boil then reduce heat to medium to keep water at a simmer. Cook 45 m to 1h or until done (for large, fresh ones) or up to 4 h (for large, older ones from storage).
When they’re done, remove from heat, drain water and then plunge them quickly into cold water. Remove from cold water, cut off root tips & stems and you should be able to rub the skins off easily with a damp towel or paper towel.
When baking/roasting the beets, do not wash or peel. Put in aluminium foil, with a little bit of water. Set the oven to 180°C, and cook for at least 1 h.
Smaller, younger beets do not have to be peeled.
Add some sliced apple to raw red beet, or put apple juice in the vinaigrette.
Red beets go well with fat fish like mackerel, sardines or herring.