Photo: Pål Allan / www.imagebank.sweden.se

Silltallrik or a “herring plate” may be viewed as a miniature variation of the more grandiose Swedish “herring table.” Fatty herring from the North Sea is a fundamental part of the Swedish diet. When herring were caught, they provided food for many people. To make sure that the herring would last a long time, they were preserved by salting while still raw.

Presoaked vinegar-marinated herring filets may assume many shapes. Herring with onions (löksill), with spices (kryddsill) and with mustard (senapsill) are classics, but in recent years it has become equally popular to flavor the herring with garlic, for example. The accessories are simple, because the herring is the obvious star of the show. Those who wish may add such flourishes as a piece of well-aged cheese, a bit of sour cream, a slice of coarse bread and/or a few freshly boiled potatoes.

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Innkeeper Emeritus Carl Jan Granqvist selected the dishes. Journalist and author Lena Katarina Swanberg wrote the texts.

The authors alone are responsible for the opinions expressed on this web page.

Translation: Victor Kayfetz

© Photos: Pål Allan / www.imagebank.sweden.se

Copyright 2005: This text is published by the Swedish Institute on www.sweden.se. It may not be reused without prior consent. To obtain permission to use the text, please submit this form. Photos or illustrations may not be used in other contexts. More information on the copyright here.