Whether you travel to Russia or hang out with Russians, it’s inevitable that one day you will be invited to try a dish containing a dreadful ingredient – “HERRING.” While Russians cannot imagine any big holiday without a centerpiece salad called “Сельдь под шубой” (herring under a fur coat), to most Americans, anything that has to do with herring does not sound appetizing, to say the least. Salty raw fish does not become appealing even after being marinated in a wine sauce. Yet, salmon sounds good to most, if not all. Well, salmon comes from the same family of fish as herring! So, if you like salmon, you should be able to digest herring too.

In my perpetual search for a “perfect” recipe, I found the “shuba” salad recipe (in many places, the salad is simply referred to as “шуба” – a fur coat) by a well-known contemporary Russian writer Tatiana Tolstaya. If your fear of herring has been lessened by the previous paragraph, then I invite you to venture on to making a famous Russian salad “Herring under a fur coat”!

Ingredients:

Herring fillets (Tolstaya recommends using brand “Matias”) – equivalent of 2 medium fish
3-4 medium sized beats
2-3 large carrots
4-5 eggs
1 large apple (pick an apple that is sour or sour-sweet)
mayonnaise

Step 1: Wash and cook the beats for about 1 hour, drain, pour cold water over them, let them cool off for about 5 minutes. Peel and dice the beats. Each cube should be about the size of a large pea.

Step 2: Wash and cook the carrots until they are ready (about 15-20 minutes). I check my vegetables using a fork. If the fork goes in easily, then the vegetables are cooked well through. Take the carrots out, let them cool off, peel them, and then dice them into similarly sized cubes as the beats.

Step 3: Boil the eggs for about 10-12 minutes, let them cool off, peel them, and then dice them into similarly sized cubes as the vegetables.

Step 4: Wash, peel, and dice the apple into similarly sized cubes as the rest of the ingredients.

Step 5: Keep all of these ingredients in separate bowls. Add mayo to each bowl and mix very well. Use your taste to determine the amount of the mayo. I usually use just enough to coat each cube.

Step 6: Take out the herring fillets and dice them. Important: The herring should NOT be marinated in any fancy sauces, use plain herring marinated in salt and water. Note 1: use a plastic cutting board, because you won’t be able to get the fishy smell out if you use a wooden cutting board. Note 2: Do not use mayo to coat the each cube.

Step 7: It is now the time to put the salad together. The reason we call it “shuba” or “fur coat” is because of the many layers of this salad. So, let’s begin the layering process:

You can use a deep dish or a special dish for this salad called “селедница.” Divide your beets into 3 batches, and the rest of the ingredients into 2 batches. Spread the first batch of the beets on the bottom of the dish, follow with the herring, carrots, apples and eggs. Then spread the second batch of the beets on top of the eggs, and follow with the rest of the layers in the same order. The last layer is your third batch of the beets.

The salad is best served with the Russian rye bread (not the one you can buy at any grocery store, but the real Russian rye bread). And of course, the salad goes very well with a shot (or two) of vodka!

Приятного аппетита!