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Manx Potted Herring

Manx Potted Herring is a traditional Manx recipe (from the Isle of Man) for a classic dish of herring preserved in vinegar with pickling spice and bayleaves. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Manx version of: Manx Potted Herring.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

15 minutes

Total Time:

35 minutes

Additional Time:

(+over-night pickling)

Serves:

4

Rating:

Tags : Spice RecipesBritish RecipesManx Recipes

Potting is normally the preservation of meat (often seafood) in butter. However, the method of pickling fish by baking in water and vinegar (typically called sousing) is called potting when applied to herring. Equivalent recipes are also found in Northern Ireland and Scotland as well as the Isle of Man. In essence, this is the classic Manx way of pickling (sousing) herring. The pickling liquid is traditionally a mix of 5 parts water to 2 parts vinegar. Interestingly the Manx version is boiled on the stove as opposed to the more common baking in the oven.

Ingredients:

8 herring, cleaned, scaled and gutted
water and vinegar blend, to cover
1 tsp picking spice
2 bay leaves

Method:

Arrange the fish in the base of a large pan and pour over enough of the vinegar and water mix to cover. Add the bay leaves and scatter over the pickling spice.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, until the fish is cooked through. Take off the heat, cover the pan and set aside to pickle over night.

Eat cold with freshly-buttered bread.

As a variant you can add an sliced onion with the fish when pickling, which can then be served with the fish.