Hi,
Last year, I bought salt herring just before Christmas. It was fresh in a salt brine, not dry salted. However, from talking to another patron picking through the barrel, I learned these needed desalinating.
It wasn't easy finding guidance on what to do, though I found
Joan Nathan's recipe for pickling your own herring. While I had access to filets, she had whole fish.
While Joan Nathan had one rest their herring in water overnight. The guy at the store used two changes of water over a day or so.
This summer in Minneapolis, I bought some made-on-the-premises creamed herring at Ingebretsen's. The butchers were so kind and chatty, I asked them about how they prepared their herring for picking. Their herring has two changes of water before pickling, spending about 90 minutes in water each time. Actually, one was 60 and the other 90 minutes, but I cannot remember which was first. In any case, far shorter than I had envisioned. My companion suggested Ingebretsen's likely began with a higher quality fish than what I obtained. Always, always there are variables I can and cannot control.
I plan to pick up some salted herring Friday or Saturday, so they will be ready by Christmas.
If anyone else has had experience pickling their own herring, please comment or link to resources.
Ingebretsen's
1601 East Lake Street,
Minneapolis, MN 55407
612-729-9333
If you are into Swedish food, crafts and culture, this is a must stop store. They also offer cooking classes, crafts, knitting and needleword. Their cookings classes were on Aebleskivers, Krumkake, Kransekaka and lefse. They had the equipment available to make these as well.