Make it at home
Ingredients
- 12 raw herring fillets (matjes-cured, not too salty)
- For the base 1-2-3 brine (each jar): 100ml 12 percent white spirit vinegar
- 200g caster sugar
- 300ml water
- Klassisk lokssill: 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp whole white peppercorns
- 6 allspice berries
- 1 bay leaf
- Senapssill (mustard): 4 tbsp Swedish mustard
- 2 tbsp Dijon
- 3 tbsp creme fraiche
- 1 tbsp chopped dill
- Glasmastarsill: 1 carrot in coins
- 2 horseradish slices
- 5 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- 1 small bunch dill
Method
- Soak the herring fillets in cold water for 4 hours, changing the water once, to remove excess salt.
- For each brine: bring vinegar, sugar, and water to a boil, dissolve, then cool to room temperature.
- Cut soaked herring into 3cm pieces.
- Klassisk jar: layer herring with sliced red onion, peppercorns, allspice, and bay. Pour cold brine to cover.
- Senapssill: whisk mustard, Dijon, creme fraiche, dill, and 3 tbsp of the cooled brine into a sauce. Fold the herring through and pack into a jar.
- Glasmastarsill: layer herring with carrot, horseradish, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and dill crowns. Cover with brine.
- Seal jars and refrigerate at least 48 hours, ideally 4 days.
- Serve on a smorgasbord with boiled new potatoes, hard-boiled egg quarters, Vasterbotten cheese, knackebrod, and a small glass of aquavit.
Tip from the editors. Sweden's three classic pickle styles are deliberately different; if you only make one, glasmastarsill carries the strongest Christmas-table identity in Gothenburg.
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Where to eat inlagd sill (pickled herring)
Inlagd Sill (Pickled Herring) in Gothenburg
Stora Saluhallen ★ 4.7
Stora Saluhallen is Gothenburg's grand 19th-century indoor market at Kungstorget, housing over 40 traders selling West Coast seafood, Swedish charcuterie.
Feskekorka ★ 4.8
Feskekorka (the Fish Church) is Gothenburg's Gothic 1874 fish hall reopened in 2024 after a four-year renovation, housing fishmongers, shellfish counters.
More places near Stora Saluhallen and Feskekorka
Not on this list, but close by, nearest first. Every one is in our guide with its address, hours and what to order.
- Feskekorka Shrimp Stalls Swedish Seafood, under 100 m away
- Victorvong at Feskekorka Nordic, under 100 m away
- Feskekorka Prawn Counter Nordic, under 100 m away
- Gamla Ulla Swedish Seafood, under 100 m away
- Nefertiti Jazz Club Cocktail bar, about 200 m away
- Nefertiti Cocktail bar, about 200 m away
More cities are in research. Want inlagd sill (pickled herring) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.