Herring

Liverpool F.C. ~ Scoused herring

Introduction: Found swimming in The Pool, catch your herrings off the coast of Lancashire and scouse them up!

A scouser is named after a dish which I have not tried to cook as yet called lobscouse: a stew of meat and vegetables and hardtack that is eaten by sailors. I will find and post a recipe for it soonest.

Preparation time: 2 days and 3 hours and 20 mins

Cooking time: 0 mins (it’s a marinade!)

Home kit: medium saucepan, colander, casserole dish, fridge

Away kit: 1 serving plate

Serves: 6

Ingredients

  • 6 herring fillets (about 8 oz/225 g each)
  • 1½ tbls. salt
  • 1 tsp. English mustard powder
  • 2 large dill gherkins
  • 1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced

For the marinade:

  • 1 pint (570 ml) white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp. whole allspice berries
  • 1 tsp. whole coriander seeds
  • 1 dried red chilli
  • ½ tsp. mustard seeds
  • a couple of bay leaves
  • 2 tsp. soft brown sugar

Method: preheat the fridge to cold (it’s a marinade!)

First half

Make the marinade in a saucepan by combining the vinegar, spices, chilli, bay leaves and sugar with 5 fl oz (150 ml) water. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave until cold. Next, sprinkle the herring fillets with the salt and let them drain in a colander for about 3 hours. After that, rinse off the salt and dry off any excess moisture with kitchen paper.

Second half

Cut each dill pickle into three lengthways, spread the side of each fillet thinly with mustard and place a piece of dill gherkin and some slices of onion horizontally at what was the head end of each fillet. Then roll them up from the head to the tail end – the skin being on the outside – and secure each roll with a cocktail stick. Pack them into an the casserole or dish and sprinkle the remaining onion on top. Pour over the marinade, cover the dish with cling film and put it in the lowest part of the fridge.

Full time results

The herrings will not be ready for serving for at least 48 hours and, in fact, they will keep well for at least a week. Stick on serving plate and eat with slices of fresh crusty bread.

Ahright! Ahright!

This weekend’s Kickball Cuisine endeavours have already not gone to plan.  I have planned Scoused Herring but, would you believe it, herring is out of season. I didn’t even know fish had seasons.

Anyhow, I have replaced the herring with sea bass which is a whole lot healthier by all accounts and therefore should not under any circumstances be used for Kickball Cuisine!image

The menu I am cooking for my good friend Jay is;

  • Starters – Scoused herring
  • Main course – Lamb Shankley
  • Kop cakes for pudding

Guess which team he supports?

I am pretty sure I have all the ingredients now.  Looking forward to a lovely Liverpool Sunday.  I haven’t decided on the vegetable accompaniments yet.  Any ideas?

I watched the Wigan vs. Man Citeh game last night and was cheering on the new heroes of the Premiership.  A shame they join Reading and QPR in the drop.  But Warren did come up with the name of a dish, Wigan Wheels.