Pomeranian buttermilk potatoes with herring

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg potatoes, waxy
• 1 m.-large onion(s), finely diced
• 250 g bacon, finely diced
• 20 allspice berries
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 liter buttermilk
• Oil for frying
• salt and pepper
• 250 g herring fillet(s)

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

a classic dish from Pomerania

Peel and dice the potatoes. Finely dice the onion and bacon. Place the diced potatoes in a pot with 2/3 of the chopped onion, allspice berries, and bay leaf. Fill with water, just enough to cover. Bring to a boil and cook the potatoes until tender (about 25 minutes). Then remove the bay leaf. Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with a little cold water until smooth, then add it to the potatoes and buttermilk and heat through. Meanwhile, fry the bacon cubes and the remaining diced onion in a pan with a little oil until crispy. Add the bacon to the soup and stir in. Season the soup with salt and pepper, but use very sparingly because of the herring fillets. When serving, serve the soup with herring, chopped into small pieces and stirred into the soup on the plate. One of my favorite dishes when my mother cooked. But she remembered it from her childhood in Pomerania and unfortunately never wrote it down. So this was an attempt to see if I could do it that way – and I have to say, it’s a complete success.