Forschmack is an invention of the Ashkenazi, that is, those Jews who, after the great dispersion, settled in the Rhine Valley. Inhabited among the peoples who sheltered them, they adopted much of the German, Swedish, French and Slavic cuisines. And the climatic conditions of the new homeland dictated their own conditions, forcing Ashkenazi to cook dishes from those products that were available. Sephardic Jews, who fled to the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, did the same. But here we’ll talk not about the vicissitudes of the fate of the Jewish people, but about how to prepare a forshmak from a herring.
Alas and ah, the tradition of cooking this cimes (appetizer) by all the rules of kosher is almost forgotten. The dish was adopted by housewives of all nationalities. Even the word forshmak is German. It means “appetizer”. And the authentic name is “Gehakte Goering,” that is, chopped herring. It is clear that over time, the dish has “grown” with various German, Polish and even Russian innovations. But yes, yes - in Odessa, in the Rosemary restaurant, the preparation of forcemeat from herring is carried out according to an old recipe. They respect the requirements of a religious diet. It’s not for nothing that the restaurant was given the title “Glat Kasher”.
In ancient Jewish cookbooks, there are such records about how to cook mincemeat from herring: "You need to soak the fish in cold tea leaves." This wish applies only to canned herring "Iwashi", which were sold during the Soviet Union. Soaking in tea was necessary to remove excess salt and make the fish softer. If you have a carcass of a Norwegian herring - silvery, oily, slightly rainbow, then this overture for cooking snacks can be omitted.
How to make Jewish herring forshmak, what foods are needed? In addition to the Norwegian fish, the most domestic ones. Onions, garlic, butter or margarine (only parve - on vegetable fats). We also need a sour apple - it’s best to take the Simirenka variety. You can not do without spices: coriander, black pepper, ginger powder. But the addition to the snack of hard-boiled eggs is a German or Polish addition.
Having stocked everything you need, we begin our culinary master class "How to cook mincemeat from herring." We select all the bones from the fish - a dreary but necessary lesson. Next, chop two-thirds of the fillet in a blender, and cut the remainder manually into small pieces. We chop two cloves of garlic, clean the apple and free from the fruit box. Mashed apple, garlic, spices in a blender. Separately chop the onion. We combine these two components together with most of the herring. Beat butter or margarine in a mixer to make a protein cream. Add it to the foreshmak. Cut an apple half without skin into small cubes. Now we should think about how to make the foreshak air. It should not be uniform, slices of herring and fruit should be clearly felt in the mouth. The remaining fish, which is cut into slices, and half the apple interfere with the total mass and beat. Now salt, but carefully. Now you know how to cook herring forsmak.