Potted Herring

Though the casual Govan herring
Warns us by a sense unerring
That the dead need but interring–
Pisces Benedicte.

Taken fresh and all unspotted,
Rolled in vinegar and potted,
O, it tickles the parotid–
Pisces Benedicte.
–Parvus (in Glasgow University Magazine): Sistette to Fish

Fresh herring, salt, peppercorns, cloves, bay leaf, blade of mace, onion (optional), white vinegar, water.

Skin, cleanse, and head-and-tail six plump medium-sized herring; then split lengthwise. Remove the backbone by lifting one end and prising it away from the flesh with a knife. Sprinkle the fillets with salt and mill black pepper over them. Roll tightly, skin outside, beginning at the tail, and pack into a pie dish or shallow casserole. Distribute the spices–six peppercorns, two cloves, a small bay leaf, and a blade of mace–among the fillets. (Some housewives add a small shredded onion.) Pour over just enough vinegar and water–half and half, or rather more vinegar than water–to cover the fish. Cover the dish with a buttered paper or lid, and bake in a slow oven for fully an hour1, then uncover and bake for twenty minutes longer. Serve cold with potato salad.

The spices used vary considerably. Some add only a bay leaf. Perhaps the best potted herring I ever tasted were very fresh Lochfynes, to which nothing but salt and pepper, vinegar and water was added.–F. M. McN.

1Mrs. McIver (1773) says: Pot herring for four hours in a slow oven.