Mecklenburger Heringssalat

Mecklenburger Heringssalat belongs to the northern table, where fish, rye, pickles, and cream have always done more work than a roast. You see it at New Year, on a cold buffet, and at a family table when the cook had the sense to make it yesterday. This is Baltic country cooking: silver herring, tart apple, sour cucumber, onion, and potato, bound lightly with sour cream so it stays sharp.

The regions argue even over a bowl of herring. Mecklenburg keeps the salad pale and clean, with sour cream, pickle brine, apple, and onion doing the lifting. Further west you'll find beetroot turning it pink; in Hamburg and along the North Sea, Matjes often takes the place of salted herring. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. The south has its own salads, but this one belongs near the coast.

The technique is soaking, then resting. Salted herring has to be rinsed and soaked until it tastes seasoned, not punishing, because the sour cream will tighten the salt again once everything sits. Then the finished salad needs the night in the refrigerator. Das braucht seine Zeit. The onion softens, the apple gives up a little sweetness, the pickle brine moves through the cream, and the fish stops tasting separate from the bowl.

Cut everything small enough to sit together on a fork, not minced into paste. Weggeworfen wird nichts: the pickle brine seasons the dressing, and a spoon of potato cooking water loosens it better than more cream. Serve it cold with dark rye or boiled potatoes. Schoen ist, was schmeckt.