Love rollmops? Make them yourself for a fresher, more flavorful result that's surprisingly simple. As someone who's prepared this family recipe for years, passed down from my grandmother, I can attest to its reliability and deliciousness.
Rollmops are a beloved classic in vinegar-pickled cuisine. Traditional pickled herring needs 3 days of marinating; they become rollmops when rolled up (hence the name, "roll them up"), though rolling is optional.
Here's our quick family version, ready in 24 hours. Follow along:
1. Choose about twenty very fresh and very shiny herrings.
2. Ask your fishmonger to prepare them for you in fillets. Have him cut off the head, tail and fins and remove the bones.
3. Put your clean, well-washed and dried fillets in an oven dish, next to each other.
4. In a saucepan, heat 20 cl of white wine.
5. Add 20 cl of wine vinegar to the saucepan.
6. Add a finely chopped onion and carrot.
7. Add thin slices of organic lemon.
8. Add a bunch of chopped fresh parsley.
9. Add a sprig of thyme, a sprig of tarragon and two bay leaves.
10. Boil the mixture for 10 minutes: the marinade should make small bubbles.
11. Pour this boiling marinade over the fish fillets in the oven dish.
12. Cover with aluminum foil and leave to cool.
13. Put in the fridge for 24 hours.
There you go, your homemade rollmops are ready to eat :-)
In less than 1/4 hour of active time (not counting cooling), you get rollmops far better than anything on the market!
They can easily be kept for 1 week in the fridge, with their marinade.
These rollmops, made with fresh products, are a delight, but the real bonus is that they are really economical.
These homemade rollmops are much cheaper than store-bought ones.
So that your fishmonger has time to prepare the herring fillets for you, avoid going there on a Friday morning or a Saturday.
That's where the most people are. It is better that your fishmonger has more time to prepare them quietly.
