#CookforUkraine: Forshmak - a classic Ashkenazi starter

Serves 4-6
200g of salted herring fillet (in oil not in vinegar)
1/4 white onion
1 granny smith apple, peeled and cored
15g of white bread, soaked in milk
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
A generous pinch of freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp of sunflower oil
1 tbsp of chopped dill
6 hard-boiled eggs, yokes removed

Make sure to get the right herring for this dish, as only salted herring in oil would work; the ones brined in vinegar will taste too sharp and bitter. Place all the ingredients, apart from the cooked egg whites, together into a food processor, making sure to squeeze out the excess milk from the bread, and blitz on high speed for about 5-8 minutes until you get a smooth pâté. Taste for seasoning and acidity and adjust if needed, adding more salt, sugar or lemon juice.

To make the devilled eggs, place forshmak into a piping basg and fill up each of the egg whites shells. Alternatively you can serve forshmak as a pâté on a slice of rye bread toast, in which case you don’t need to separate the egg yolkes from the whites.

Recipe from Salt and Time: Recipes from a Russian Kitchen