Growing up in Siberia, I knew all about cold weather. Winter meant wearing a fur coat (shuba) made of real animal fur. It wasn’t a luxury, rather a necessity. Sometimes it got so cold that even the food needed an overcoat.

So dressing food in coats was also part of the culture I lived in. Yes, I am thinking about pies, belyashi, pelmeni, and, of course, “selyodka pod shuboy”, which literally  means “herring in a fur coat”.

This sexy naked herring needs to be dressed.

The last one especially created a wintry ambience and was a major appetizer for Russian Style New Year celebration.

In my older posts writing about Forshmak, I praised herring as one of the most delicious, nutritious and indispensable appetizer in Russian cuisine. And not only in Russia.

Herring has a long history of an important food fish since at least 3000 BC. Herrings have been fermented, smoked, pickled or salted. They are famously rich in Omega-3 fats and Vitamin D.

This recipe for Russian herring under a fur coat salad, known as shuba or seledka pod shuboy (cеледка под шубой), is a masterpiece of Russian culinary art.

Originally a Swedish recipe, it was successfully adopted by the Russians. Every Russian craves it. It is essentially a layered salad made of chopped pickled herring, cooked and coarsely shredded beets and apples, chopped onion and mayonnaise.

There are different versions of this salad featuring potatoes, eggs and carrots. None of those three ingredients are present in my family recipe.

The whole idea is to create a sweet, sour and salty combination mellowed by a touch of mayo. The taste is spectacular. The fur coat made of shredded cooked beets and grated sour apples is light, smooth and fluffy, as it should be. Potatoes featuring in many recipes would make the fur coat too heavy to wear. My herring would be against it

So let’s recreate my family recipe of “shuba”.

Prepare two pounds of herrings fillet, coarsely diced, and mixed with one large chopped sweet onion and a tablespoon of mayo. Set aside.  

Boil 3 medium size beet roots, cool them down and peel.

Peel 2 Honey-crisp apples or any other crisp apples.

For arrangement, you will need a shallow oval dish .

Arrange pieces of herring mixture on the bottom of the oval dish.

Cover with coarsely grated apples and smooth over with a fork. Do not apply pressure.

Continue layering with coarsely grated beets. Spread the shredded beets with a fork on top and sides.

Cover with a very thin layer of mayonnaise. The bright purple fur coat is covered with some snow. Using flat knife, trim the edges.

Eat promptly since the grated apples produce juice making the salad watery.

The salty, sour and sweet combination makes this appetizer taste distinct and melt-in your-mouth, especially after a shot of vodka that would be my husband’s choice with this delicacy.

They say that selyodka pod shuboy was served and made popular by a Moscow vodka bar owner in 1919 to keep his customers from extreme intoxication. How thoughtful!

Nazdorovye!

P.S. All the food featured in this post has been prepared and photographed by me.