Forshmak (Yiddish/German for 'foretaste' or 'fore-taste') is one of the great Jewish-Ukrainian dishes of Odessa, where a large Jewish community shaped southern Ukrainian cuisine for two centuries before WWII. The recipe migrated with Ashkenazi Jewish communities from Germany into Eastern Europe; Odessa's version became the most refined — minced fine, mounted with butter, brightened with apple. The dish remains the unofficial appetizer at any Odessa-tradition meal, served on rye with a sprig of dill.
Spread thick on dark rye, a forshmak topping is pink-grey with flecks of egg, apple, onion. The salt-cured herring is balanced by the butter's smoothness and the apple's tartness. Vodka on the side cleans the palate between bites. The unmistakable signature of Odessa's Jewish heritage.
Soaking salted herring in milk for 1 hour reduces the surface salt by about 50% through osmosis — without this step, the forshmak is too salty to eat in any quantity. The butter doesn't just bind the spread; it coats the salt crystals and prevents them from feeling sharp on the tongue. Tart apple provides acid that prevents the spread from tasting one-note salty.
Variations
Odessa Jewish version uses apple and butter; Lithuanian Jewish version uses pickle instead of apple; Baltic version uses sour cream instead of butter — three Ashkenazi forshmaks.
On the Palate
Where Odessa Forshmak sits in the Ukrainian flavor cloud
The whole dish lives or dies on de-salting the herring: soak it in cold milk for a full hour or the spread is inedibly salty, and mount it with enough soft butter to round off any salt that remains.
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
5 steps · 25 min active + 5 min waiting
- 160 min
Soak 4 salted herring fillets in cold milk for 1 hour to reduce saltiness (skip if using lightly-cured fillets). Drain.
Watch outAfter an hour the milk turns cloudy and a tasted shred should be pleasantly salty, no longer harsh.
- 211 min
Hard-boil 3 eggs (10 min); peel and cool.
- 310 min
Mince herring fillets, 1 peeled tart apple (Antonovka or Granny Smith), 1 small white onion, 3 hard-boiled eggs to fine consistency (use food processor with short pulses or chop by hand).
Watch outStop mincing while there's still a little grain — you want chopped texture, not a smooth paste.
- 44 min
Transfer to bowl; mix with 80g softened butter, 1 slice of dark rye bread (crustless, soaked in milk and squeezed), 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, ½ tsp ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly to spreadable paste.
Watch outMix until it turns glossy and holds together in a soft, spreadable paste that mounds on a spoon.
- 55 min
Chill 5 min. Spread thick on slices of dark rye bread; garnish with a sprig of fresh dill, a thin slice of red onion. Serve as appetizer with a shot of vodka.
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