Marinated Herring and Potato Salad

Recipe from Rick Stein

serves 4 as a starter

Ingredients

15 grams salt
1 ½ teaspoons caster sugar
½  teaspoon crushed white peppercorns
225g herring fillets
sunflower oil to cover
450g new potatoes, scraped
3 tablespoons chopped chives

To make

1. Mix together the salt, sugar and crushed white pepper to make a dry cure.  Layer the herring fillets in a dish, sprinkling generously with the mix.  Cover and leave in the fridge for 24 hours, turning once after 12 hours
   
2. Next day, cut the fillets slightly on the diagonal into long thin strips.  Pack them into a large, airtight glass container and put in enough sunflower oil to cover.  Refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.
   
3. To serve, cook the potatoes in salted boiling water until tender and drain.
   
4. Put the warm potatoes into a bowl with the herring strips, chives and 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil.  Toss together and serve immediately.