Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1833) of Johannes Brahms, a German composer and pianist. He was born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, but spent much of his professional life in Vienna. Unlike many great masters, Brahms’s popularity and influence were considerable in his lifetime. Unlike Mozart and Beethoven, for example, Brahms died a rich man. He is sometimes grouped with Bach and Beethoven as one of the “Three Bs,” a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.

Brahms was famous for his love of food and drink. He ate his main meal every day at Zum Roten Igel (The Red Hedgehog), always with friends whom he routinely regaled with friendly insults and laughter. He was fond of spicy beef dishes and also of fish, including fried whitebait and herring salad. Here is my take on Silsalat (Austrian herring salad):

©Silsalat

Ingredients

Dressing

2 egg yolks
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp crème fraîche
salt and white pepper to taste

Salad

4 hardboiled eggs, peeled and quartered
1 apple, peeled and diced
4 pickled herrings, cut in chunks
4 boiled potatoes, peeled and diced

Instructions

Place the egg yolks in the bowl of a mixer and beat them on medium speed. Gradually add the olive oil a few drops at a time to form an emulsion. As the yolks take up the oil you can add the oil faster. Just be careful not to go too fast. When finished add the rest of the dressing ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Then add the salad ingredients and mix so that they are evenly and thoroughly coated. Serve in chilled bowls with buttered dark bread (or toast).