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Fish Forcemeat I

Erken's basic recipe for raw fish forcemeat made from scraped haddock with potato starch, salt, ice-cold butter, milk, and cream; ground 10 times and thinned carefully. Used for fish pudding or fish balls, with stock simmered from heads, bones, and skin.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 97 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

The basic recipe for raw fish forcemeat made from haddock, in Erken's characteristic instructive tone. The forcemeat is the starting point for both fish pudding and fish balls, and the scraped-off skin and bones are simmered into stock.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Clean and age the fish

    Clean, rinse, and dry the fish. If you get it late in the day, after rinsing it can hang freely on a stick overnight in a cool place.

  2. 2

    Scrape the fish flesh

    Cut the fish open from the tail upward, lay it on a clean fish cloth flesh-side down, and scrape the flesh from the tail upward. Scrape the bone as well. Scrape lightly so you don't cut out large pieces of fish flesh at a time.

  3. 3

    Prepare the butter

    Melt the butter and set the butter cup in cold water so that it becomes ice-cold again.

  4. 4

    Grind the forcemeat

    Grind the fish with potato starch and salt 5 times. Then grind 5 more times while adding the ice-cold butter a teaspoon at a time.

  5. 5

    Thin with milk and cream

    Put all the forcemeat in a dish or bowl and stir while thinning it a little at a time with cream and milk that were boiled the day before. Thin carefully – the forcemeat separates at first, and you must not add more before it is fully stirred together.

  6. 6

    Test-cook and season

    Cook a test ball to see whether the forcemeat is suitably loose or firm, and judge for yourself whether it needs more salt or nutmeg. Without a grinder, the scraped fish can be pounded with salt and potato starch in a marble mortar, a trough, or a sturdy dish. The forcemeat must be worked in a cool place.

  7. 7

    Shape pudding and balls

    The forcemeat may be looser for pudding than for balls. For pudding, fill it into a greased mold, about 1/2 kg for 6 people; shape the rest into balls and set them aside in the fish stock.

  8. 8

    Simmer stock

    Simmer stock from the heads (without the eyes), bones, and the skins that are not removed and dried into "coffee skins."

Changes from the original

Measures have been converted to modern units (spoon = tablespoon, del. = deciliter). "Grinder" is interpreted as a meat grinder, and it is noted that the modern alternative is a food processor. Ingredient amounts have been standardized; nutmeg is listed as optional as the original suggests.

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Tidsmaskin – hva endret seg?

Velg to utgaver og se hva Henriette Schønberg Erken la til, fjernet eller endret mellom dem.

1914 (korrekturlest, s. 97)1949 (korrekturlest, s. 117)~65% av teksten endretfjernetlagt til
INGREDIENSER: 1 dyp tallerken, ca. 1 kg. 750 gr. skrapet fisk (kolje) 1/4 fisk, kolje, gjedde 1/2 l. fløte ca. 1/2 l. melk 100 gr. smør 1 ske skje salt 1 teske 30 gr. potetesmel 1/2 teske teskje reven muskatnøtt (for dem, dem som liker det). Kjøp fisken, skrap fisken, rens fisken, vask fisken, tør fisken. Faar det) FREMGANGSMÅTE: Fisken skrapes, renses, vaskes og tørres. Får man den i hus utover eftermiddagen, ettermiddagen, — det er jo ikke alle, alle som læser leser dette, som bor i en by, hvor de kan trikke ned efter fisken fisken, eller telefonere og faa den bragt omtrent pr. omgaaende omgående —, saa gjør det samme, men la saa fisken, efterat den er vasket, hænge henge natten over paa et kjølig sted; stik riskene ind paa stikk fiskene inn på en kjep, saa kjepp, så de hænger frit. henger fritt. Næste morgen skjæres fisken fra halen opover, lægges paa legges på rent fiskeklæde med kjøtsiden ned, og nu kjøttsiden ned. Kjøttet skrapes kjøttet fra halen og opover; skrap ogsaa også benet. Gnid Gni fiskekjøttet litt paa fjælen; på fjelen; skrap let, saa lett, så man ikke saa at så å si skjærer ut store stykker fiskekjøt fiskekjøtt med engang; dette er en almindelig, men ganske forkjert fremgangsmaate. Naar forkjært fremgangsmåte. Når alt er skrapet, skrapt, smeltes smørret, smøret, og smørkoppen sættes settes i koldt vand. vann. Fisken med potetesmelet og saltet males 5 1 gang, tilsettes potetesmelet, males derefter 4 ganger; smørret smøret — iskoldt — haves has fra nu av i teskevis, idet teskjevis, man måler videre maler 5 ganger. Al ganger, idet man samtidig sper litt efter litt med melken. All fisken haves has i et fat eller bolle, og man rører, idet der spædes spes litt efter litt med fløten og melken, fløten, der likesom melken er opkokt dagen i forveien. Spæd sagte! Naar Spe sakte! Når der spædes, spes, vil fisken straks likesom dele sig op; før den er rørt ganske sammen, maa man ikke spæde igjen. Kok saa en prøvebolle, naar den synes passe løs eller fast. Sverg ikke til nogen opskrift nu, bedøm ogsaa selv, om der skal mere salt eller muskat i farcen. Benyttes ikke kvern, støtes den skrapede fisk med salt og potetesmel i en marmormorter, men et traug eller godt fat gjør det godt. Farcen maa arbeides paa et kjølig sted. Farcen kan være løsere til pudding end til boller. Til pudding fyldes farcen i smurt form, til 6 personer ca. 1/2 kg., resten lages til boller og sættes bort i fiskekraften. Kraft er naturligvis kokt paa hoder — øinene ut — og ben og de skind, som ikke tages fra og tørres til «kaffeskind».

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Frequently asked questions

Which fish is used in this forcemeat?
The recipe uses about 1 kg of scraped fish, and Schønberg Erken specifies haddock as the fish.
What goes into the forcemeat besides the fish?
1/4 l cream, about 1/2 l milk, 100 g butter, 1 spoon salt, 1 teaspoon potato starch, and optionally 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg for those who like it.
Can I prepare the fish the evening before?
Yes. If you get the fish in the course of the afternoon, rinse it and hang it overnight in a cool place – slip the racks onto a stick so the fish hangs freely. The next morning the fish is cut from the tail upward, laid flesh-side down on a clean fish cloth, and the flesh is scraped off.
Where does the recipe come from?
From Henriette Schønberg Erken's "Stor kokebok" (1914), page 97. It is counted as 6 servings and takes around 2 hours.

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