Schuba is a popular multi-layered salad in Ukraine and many other countries of the former USSR. The lower layer of the salad is the cut salted herring fillet covered gradually by layers of onion, potato, carrot, and beetroot. Sometimes the sequence of layers can differ, but the last layer is mostly beetroot.
Herring in fur coat is in great demand since its recipe includes affordable products which are available all year round. In Ukraine it is served during many feasts together with Ukrainian horilka. Probably, these particular peculiarities together with the amazing eating qualities provide the salad such popularity.
The main piquancy of the salad lies in the combination of salted herring, sweetish veggies, and seasoned mayonnaise.
For those who like experiments there is a version of this salad with the addition of apples. Sour green apples are grated and arranged above the fish layer. Sometimes apples are mixed with the onion.
One more variation includes boiled eggs. They can be used for decoration or added between the layers of vegetables. Many housewives believe that eggs help make this salad more tender.
There are recipe interpretations when apples are replaced with pickled cucumbers or one of the additional layers is grated cheese, or the onion layer is excluded. Some chief cooks try to “dignify” this salad and put salmon or seafood (prawns and calamars) instead of herring. Housewives also love to make experiments. There are thousands of interpretations, including cute names such as “Herring under a cover”, “Schuba without herring”, “Herring under new fur coat”, and more.
In view of the expansion of the vegetarianism, the vegetarian version of this salad also appeared. The recipe includes sea cabbage instead of fish, and mayonnaise is replaced with vegetable oil.
Now let’s discover together five secrets of cooking leading to a refined taste of shuba melting in the mouth.
First step – Do not scrimp on mayonnaise (grease the layers thoroughly).
Second step – You should boil vegetables beforehand and cool them. If you use warm veggies, you can spoil the salad.
Third step – Accurate cutting. All vegetables should be cut or grated. You can use a fine or coarse grater for carrot and beetroot, and only the coarse grater for potato. The onion should be cut as finely as possible or crushed with a blender. The herring also should be cut into medium pieces, and all fish bones should be removed.
Forth step – Salad arranging. The traditional layer order: herring, onion, potato, carrot, and beetroot. All layers are greased with mayonnaise. If you wish, you can change the order of layers. For instance, you can put potato underneath, and cover it with herring, onion, carrot, and beetroot.
Over recent years it became popular to serve this salad in an unusual way. For example, you can put schuba in little portioned bowls or glass salad dishes.
And the last but not least – fifth step. Before serving the salad should sit in a fridge for 3 hours as a minimum. When its layers soak with mayonnaise, schuba will become extremely moist and soft.
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