Lithuanian herring dishes – a simple pleasure in a complicated world

Herring is one of the best choices when eating in Lithuanian restaurants. It is quick to prepare, inexpensive, and also healthier than most other things on the menu. Perfect for the inpatient tourist on a budget with a bad conscience for having eaten too many cepelinai.

Herring - one of the lighter options on the Lithuanian menu of traditional foods

It might strike you as odd that there is such a strong herring tradition in Lithuania, despite the fact that this is not a nation with strong fishing traditions, but the quality of the herring dishes here can sometimes be surprisingly high. Ironically enough, my home country is one of the largest exporters of herring in Europe, yet we have hardly any restaurants that even put it on the menu.

Herring is a common item on Lithuanian menus, but rather unusual in many other countries

The fish itself is rather unremarkable. It is either good or bad, and only makes a difference if it is bad. Most of the herring arrives at the restaurant salted in brine, and is served pretty much “as is” after being watered out a bit. This makes it almost undistinguishable from the herring that you can get in grocery shops, but as mentioned – it is not the fish itself that makes the herring dishes great. The magic lies in the composition.

A rather unremarkable example that only covers the basics

- herring, onion, potatoes and sour cream

“What goes well with herring?”. This is perhaps a matter of individual preferences, but I think the best universal answer is “Lots of things!”. The most important thing is that the accessories make the herring into a complete meal. I personally think the list should include:

·         Sour cream (big lump, high fat)

·         Boiled potatoes (not fried)

·         Boiled beetroot (diced)

·         Green peas (not Cold)

·         Red and yellow onion slices

·         Tomatoes (sprinkled lightly with salt and olive oil)

·         Cucumbers (both raw and pickled)

·         Sprinkled with scallions and dill

Some restaurants also add such things as cabbage, diced apples, sauerkraut, hemp seeds or even mayonnaise and cheese. Some of which go just fine with herring individually, but in my opinion, they just don`t fit in the bigger picture.

Herring served with cheese, mayonnaise and dice apples

The amount of herring should be proportionated to the accessories, and together they should fill the plate. The whole idea should be that you make something very humble and make it the centrepiece of a beautiful lunch of dinner by choosing good accessories and arranging everything nicely on a plate. Not all restaurants manage to do that.

One of the most successful herring combinations I have encountered to date.

 Served in Kursmariu Vila in Pervalka on the Curonian spit.

The normal Version includes green peas, and is usually much better arranged

In addition, many restaurants are not aware of how quickly seafood goes bad if it is left opened, so I am usually reluctant to eat such things as crabs of oysters in the middle of the plains – far away from the nearest oyster beds. With herring, you at least know that the fish was always preserved in a state that will take an almost deliberately irresponsible chef ta make it go bad before it reaches your table. You are in fact far more likely to be poisoned because the same chef didn`t clean the vegetables properly. If you are eating a clam soup in a remote part of Aukstatia – your odds are a bit different.   

A modest herring plate - usually available at an equally modest price

Final tip: If the herring is expensive while most other things on the menu seem cheap, chances are that the plate will be lavish. In comparason to the standard herring plate, that is. 

Ideally - it should look something like this

Final challenge: If you are feeling adventurous - there are places in Samogitia where they serve some kind of locally infamous herring soup. This soup bears the mark of all great and unusual traditional -  It is either loved or loathed. You either like it or you don`t. And for most people it is perhaps an acquired taste, but probably not a taste acquired through eating the actual soup itself. Find it, before it finds you.

The herring Soup Challenge is the one on the top - Šmakals

Final comment: Something is definitely wrong with the world when a Norwegian had to travel to Lithuania to get his first decent plate herring. But who knows – Lithuanians might in time bow in awe to our potato dishes and make the irony complete.

Since I will og on trying various herring dishes, I will just simply post pictures of them here as I og along:

I mean, it`s herring and all. And a good meal, but where are the estethics?

Same restaurant, same dish - but this is the lavish version. They skip the sour cream, 

add plenty of mayonaise and cheese and put the boiled potatoes in the pot. Horrible!

Whoever came up with these two dishes...has no love for herring, thats for sure

Miesto Sodas herring. Very nice to look at, with some nicely made potatoes, 

but still not the best.What happened to the onions and peas?