Schuba – "Herring under the fur coat"

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 6 beetroot
• 6 carrots
• 6 potatoes
• 2 onions
• 4 herring fillets in oil
• 500 g mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• Salt
• Sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours

popular spicy Ukrainian layered salad with beetroot

Wrap the beets in aluminum foil, shiny side inward, and bake in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 2-2.5 hours (preferably the day before). Check for doneness with a toothpick, turn off the oven, and let the beets cool slowly in the oven overnight so they continue to cook. Boil the potatoes and carrots with their skins on and let them cool. Peel the beets, potatoes, and carrots and grate them separately on a coarse grater. Finely dice the onions and marinate with the vinegar, a pinch of salt, and sugar for about 10 minutes. Dice the herring fillets. Layer the ingredients in champagne glasses or wide whiskey glasses as follows: herring, marinated onions, potatoes, mayonnaise, carrots, mayonnaise, beetroot, mayonnaise. Let the Schuba salad marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, decorate, and serve. If the salad is to be refrigerated for longer than 30 minutes, it is recommended to cover the bowls with cling film, as the surface will otherwise dry out. Shuba is a classic in Ukrainian cuisine, often prepared during the colder seasons. Baked beets have a much more intense flavor than boiled ones. However, if you need to prepare them faster, you can of course use the already cooked, vacuum-packed beets. Notes: Beets are a “very Ukrainian” vegetable. In Ukraine, they are grown as an essential and natural ingredient in every vegetable garden and have a wide variety of uses in the kitchen. For example, they can be used in the Ukrainian national dish borscht, vinaigrette salad, beetroot salad, shuba salad, braised beets with onions, or raw, thinly grated, spicy salad with garlic for hot dogs. Note from the chef’s recipe editor: If you don’t want to use aluminum foil, use parchment paper or baking paper for the beets. Using lemon juice and salt is recommended for health reasons.