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.
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.
Where to eat inlagd sill (pickled herring)
Inlagd Sill (Pickled Herring) in Gothenburg
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.
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