Smoked herring paste

Smoked herrings from Sundom, glistening in the most glorious shades of gold that I picked up at my fish counter served as the inspiration for this spread. Those small joys in life... as I'm waiting for summer, sun and seagulls! Saltiness of the smoked fish, the texture the potatos lend, crunchiness of the onions, the richness of the boiled eggs and the acidity of the capers... It's got everything Fredrik Eriksson's book got me longing for in the Nordic summer! But these are also the very components that are guaranteed to ward off the dreadful feeling most of us are bound to start our new year with tomorrow morning...!

The capers could also be substituted with one whole gherkin (or about 10 cornichons).

Serves 6-8

8 smoked herrings (or kippers)

1 generous tbsp chopped capers / 1 gherkin

1 small red onion
butter for frying

2 boiled potatos, cold and cubed
2 boiled eggs, cooled and cubed

1 tub of Créme Fraîche (150 gr)
1 dl mayonnaise

chopped chives

salt,freshly ground white pepper

Clean the herring and roughly pull apart to big chunks. Cube the gherkin or roughly chop the capers. Peel and slice the onion and sauté in a pan in a little bit of butter so it softens but won't start browning. Cube the potatos.

Mix créme fraîche and mayonnaise and add capers, fried onion, potatos and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Finally fold in smoked fish carefully so it won't get all mushy and turn the paste into dirty grey in colour.

Serve with crisp bread or Archipelago bread.

With this I thank all of you readers for this year and wish you a wildly happy and (of course!) delicious year 2014! May it be full of success, adventures... and love!


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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?