Salve, a restaurant located in Hietalahti, Helsinki, is known for its herring.
The popularity of salve herrings is not waning. Wind Lindgren
Restaurant Salve has been located in Hietalahti, Helsinki since 1897. For its first decades, the restaurant functioned as a sailor’s hut, but in the 70s the restaurant was taken over by artists and journalists. In 2016, Salve had to move after the end of the restaurant’s lease following the uproar.
Salve’s menu has many classic Finnish dishes, but the restaurant is known for one dish in particular: herring with mashed potatoes. More than 100,000 pieces of crispy fried herring leave the restaurant’s kitchen every year.
Herrings are not only enjoyed by Finnish customers, which also include numerous public figures, but the fish dish will be eaten from far away as well. The dish is especially popular among Japanese tourists.
– Lots of Japanese come to Salve to eat herring. Why herrings, it’s not entirely clear to us, says Salve’s restaurant manager Sirpa Mäkelä.
– At least social media pictures of herring and other classic Finnish dishes bring new customers. Japanese people, especially young travelers, post a lot about Salve, Mäkelä reflects.
There is usually an understanding with tourists, even if there is no common language, because tourists show pictures of herring dishes on Instagram as soon as they arrive.
Salve’s popularity among Japanese tourists is also explained by Japanese tourist guides, where the restaurant has been mentioned for a long time.
Crunchy herrings and real mash
The secret of Salve’s herrings lies in their particularly crispy fried surface, which is created when herrings rolled in rye flour and a mixture of spices are fried in a mixture of butter and rapeseed oil. Herrings are served with mashed potatoes made with milk and butter and pickled cucumbers.
Salve experienced a major renovation this autumn, when both the restaurant’s interior and food and drink lists were updated, and Skagen and a schnapps board were introduced to the list, among others. However, the recipe for herring was not touched in the reform. You can find their almost authentic recipe here:
Salve herrings
approx. 45 herrings
about 8 tablespoons of rye flour
salt, pepper
1 pot of dill
1 lemon in blocks
rapeseed oil and butter for frying
1. Flour the herring with rye flour.
2. Fry until cooked in a generous mixture of butter and rapeseed oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. In Salve, herrings are seasoned with Salve fish seasoning, which is the chef’s secret mixture. Try your own mix according to your taste preferences.
4. Serve Salve’s herring with dill, lemon wedges and mashed potatoes.
Sage mashed potatoes:
1 kg (10–12 pcs) of potatoes
1 teaspoon of salt
water
2.5 dl of hot milk
1–2 tablespoons of butter
salt for seasoning
1. Wash, peel and cut the potatoes.
2. Put the potatoes in water so that they are just covered. Add salt and let the potatoes boil under the lid until cooked.
3. Puree the ripe potatoes with a pestle or electric mixer.
4. Heat the milk and butter together and add the mixture to the puree. Season with salt. Finish the serving with a dollop of butter.