Central Europe · Volume 17, The Herring Fleet and the Sausage Stand
Fischbrötchen mit Matjes
Illustration
- Time
- 10 minutes
- Researched
- Researched from 5 sources in the brief
The dockside fish sandwich, traced to the 19th century as a practical, filling meal for fishermen and dockworkers selling fresh catch directly at the harbourside, sandwiched simply between bread; this origin story rests on tourism and lifestyle writing rather than rigorous food history.
As tradition built it
Serves 1. About 10 minutes to build.
Ingredients
- 1 proper bread roll, not a soft supermarket bap, split and lightly buttered
- 2 to 3 Matjes fillets, correctly cured (see the ferment bench)
- to taste thinly sliced raw onion
- 2 tbsp a remoulade of mayonnaise, chopped gherkin, capers and a touch of mustard
- to taste a scattering of cress or dill
Method
- Spread the roll with the remoulade, then layer the Matjes fillets and onion, building it high rather than flat.
- Finish with a scattering of cress or dill, and eat it standing up, the way it was designed to be eaten.
What a modern chef changes
Rye brioche, blender remoulade and quick-pickled onion
Method
- The roll is replaced with a rye-flour brioche, laminated lightly with butter for a softer crumb than a plain rye loaf while keeping the grain's flavour (a graft from the Paris volume's technique onto this coast's own grain).
- The remoulade is built in a high-power blender with a proper egg-yolk emulsion base rather than shop mayonnaise, and finished with a chinois-strained dill oil rather than chopped dill stirred through.
- The onion is pickled quickly in a 50/50 vinegar and sugar solution for 20 minutes rather than used raw, taking the harsh edge off without losing its bite.
- The single most important change is the fish itself: home-cured Matjes from the ferment bench, correctly enzyme-ripened rather than an industrial fillet, which is the entire argument of this dish's technique ladder made edible in one bite.