Recipe for Brantevik Herring

Ingredients:

1 kg herring fillets

300 ml table vinegar (5%)

400 ml water

100g salt

500g sugar

2 red and 2 white onions

1 bunch of dill

2 tbsp white pepper

2 tbsp allspice / pimento

2 tbsp lemon pepper

10 bay leaves

For the nettle purée:

200 - 300 grams of stinging nettles, washed

100g butter

Pinch of salt

Remove skin from herring. Stir salt and vinegar into water and lay herring fillets into the mixture. Let steep in the refrigerator for 24 hours and dry the herring fillets well.

Finely chop the onions and dill. Grind pepper and bay leaves with a mortar and pestle and mix in sugar. Layer up the herring fillets, the onion-dill mixture and the seasonings and sugar in a bowl, starting and ending with the seasonings and sugar.

Press everything together well, seal with plastic wrap and let stand in the refrigerator for at least three days.

For the nettle purée, bring water to a boil in a pot, add salt and boil the nettles for about three minutes. Then cool in ice-cold water to preserve the color. Purée in a blender, adding a dollop of butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange three herring fillets on a bed of nettle purée on a plate and garnish with fresh herbs.

The recipe comes to us courtesy of Jens Søndergaard, head chef at the Søren K restaurant in Copenhagen.