The Observation Deck

I bought a raw herring at the west side market. it might have been pickled. I don't remember. then i fried it in a pan. it was way too salty. I tried dipping it in sour cream and it was way too salty. is this normal for herring?

You need to soak in in milk overnight in the refrigerator.

My parents used to by cod like that. Packing fish in salt is a method of preserving - an old time method.

they appeared to be soaked in some kind of brine or vinegar at the market.

the show 60 Minutes did a story on Denmark. it mentioned in the beginning they eat herring and drink a lot of beer.

My herring was all brined up. and when i got home all of my beer was gone. it was a disappointing experience.

Better to buy herring that's either in a wine sauce or "creamed" - the cream involved is sour cream. Make sure you get plenty of plump mustard seeds!

And you can't just dip it, the sour cream has to soak up the wine sauce - probably for several days if you add it yourself. Then you're beginning to speak my language...

The herring was whole. I bit into it and it was raw. So I fried it in a frying pan. It melted into fishy pile of salt.