How to Make Herring Butter at Home: A Traditional Recipe 0 24

The Origin of Herring Butter

Many mistakenly believe that this dish originated in the USSR. They say that herring butter is a product made from accessible ingredients, and its taste is simply delightful. In general, it was a brilliant solution for improving the not-so-diverse diet of Soviet citizens!

However, it would be incorrect to call herring butter an "invention from scratch." Even before the revolution, cold appetizers using butter and anchovies were served in the capital's restaurants. Moreover, there were several variations with different additives! Later, when the country coped with the consequences of revolutionary changes and the civil war, chefs once again turned their attention to everyday life, including gastronomic aspects. Anchovies were hard to come by at that time, but there was plenty of cheap herring. And someone came up with the simple idea of using this beloved fish as an ingredient for appetizer butter. The result, as they say, exceeded all expectations.

Homemade Herring Butter Recipe

Now let's move on to the recipe for making herring butter. It is incredibly simple and accessible! You will need fillets of lightly salted herring (in a ratio of 2:1) and quality butter (1 part). That is, for 200 g of fish, you will need 100 g of butter.

As for the butter, choose one made from natural cream, without vegetable additives. It should be cut into cubes and left at room temperature for 20–30 minutes to soften.

It is best to buy lightly salted herring as a whole fish and fillet it yourself. This way, it will be more tender and flavorful. If you are not confident in your skills or do not want to tackle this task, you can purchase ready-made fillets. Choose the best available from a trusted producer. The fillet should either be finely chopped or passed through a meat grinder with a coarse grate, and then thoroughly mixed with the butter.

Even easier is to place both ingredients in a blender bowl and whip until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Then season the herring butter with ground pepper or nutmeg, mix, transfer to a jar with a lid, and store in the refrigerator to set.

By the way, if you still have the famous "Book of Tasty and Healthy Food" from Soviet times, you will easily find an appetizer called "Herring Mashed with Butter." Judging by the ingredient composition, this is also herring butter! Only, perhaps, with a more pronounced fish flavor: for a whole herring, only 50 g of butter is suggested. Therefore, if you want to get an appetizer with less dairy fat, try this recipe.