# German rollmops



## pmeheran (Jan 5, 2012)

I just watch an episode of good eats on the idiot box.  Alton Brown was showing how to make rollmops with rainbow trout.  It made sense, because fresh herring is not available here in south Texas.  It brought me back to my childhood in Connecticut.  My mother, a German would buy jars of it and we would eat it as a snack.  Now he has me thinking about making my own.  The ones I tried from our grocery store were very disappointing. Too sweet and an odd taste. 
     It is a two step recipe and looks to be easy enough.  First brine the fish overnight, then rinse and pat dry.  Now slice onion, cut you favorite pickle, or green olives, or even a piece of carrot.  Roll fillet, which has been cut into strips around a piece of onion, or pickle or olive etc., stick toothpick through to hold. Prepare the pickling and when cool put the rolled fillets and the pickling in a large jar. Stick the jar in the refrigerator for 2 to five days, after which serve.


----------



## Steve Kroll (Jan 5, 2012)

I've eaten plenty of pickled herring (we always have a jar in the fridge) but have never seen or tried rollmops. Sounds delicious!


----------



## pmeheran (Jan 5, 2012)

Steve Kroll said:


> I've eaten plenty of pickled herring (we always have a jar in the fridge) but have never seen or tried rollmops. Sounds delicious!



Traditionally, the result is never made as sweet as the pieces made as snacks, so it will have a somewhat different taste.  The idea to use trout instead of herring is new to me too, but it being an oily fish like the herring sounds quite workable.


----------



## giggler (Jan 5, 2012)

Kingsville, I am surprised that you are having trouble finding fresh fish. With your proximety to Port Arthur/ Corpus Christi and the coast in general. Try some of those Hippie Trailers that sell fish on the side of the road around there, or some of the local Latino Mkts. I don't know about Herring, but they should have fresh Sardines and the local Red Mullets. 
Eric, Austin Tx.


----------



## buckytom (Jan 5, 2012)

i love herring rollmopse totthpicked around a little gherkin.

i've never tried them rolled around an onion or olive before. the onion sounds really good.

what kind of olive, pmeheran? spanish, black, kalamata, etc.?


----------



## pmeheran (Jan 6, 2012)

giggler said:


> Kingsville, I am surprised that you are having trouble finding fresh fish. With your proximety to Port Arthur/ Corpus Christi and the coast in general. Try some of those Hippie Trailers that sell fish on the side of the road around there, or some of the local Latino Mkts. I don't know about Herring, but they should have fresh Sardines and the local Red Mullets.
> Eric, Austin Tx.



Oh boy!  Where do I begin?  Where I live is about an hour's drive southwest of Corpus  and Port Arthur is about 8 hours up the coast not far from Louisiana.  Most people have no idea how big a state Texas is until they live here.  Alaska is bigger, but so what.  Dallas is about 500 miles northeast of here.  The other thing is fresh seafood is kind of a new subject for texans.  Some people put hot sauce on anything, yuck!  The Latino markets?  Are you kidding?  I wouldn't feed that to the cat, well she wouldn't eat it anyway.  One thing you should know is, when you have a gently sloping shoreline and and no source of cold water upwelling, you don't have a good fishery.  That is our situation.  The only local fish is black drum, which is quite good.  Most of the rest is trucked in frozen.  There is no such thing as red mullet here, I believe you can get something like that in Europe.  The grey or silvery looking mullet we have here is only used as bait.  The so called hippie trailers can't always be trusted for their quality and would never have fresh sardines.


----------



## giggler (Jan 6, 2012)

Now just a Doggone Minute! I'm from Texas my whole life, ( I should have typed Port Aransas). We have wonderful fisheries here!

Fantastic Shrimp and Oysters! and all the Red Snapper you can catch around the deep sea Oil Platforms!

We have Red and Gray Mullet, Smelts and Sardines also.

Speckled (sea) Trout are very good and the Red Drum is the best in the world!
Flounder is plentyful too.

The Hippies are probably bringing in the Roadside Fish fresh every morning, and the Latino Markets also.. give 'em a chance!

Also I know they have an HEB/Central Market in CC. I'm sure they buy Local..

Eric, Austin Tx.


----------



## pmeheran (Jan 6, 2012)

giggler said:


> Now just a Doggone Minute! I'm from Texas my whole life, ( I should have typed Port Aransas). We have wonderful fisheries here!
> 
> Fantastic Shrimp and Oysters! and all the Red Snapper you can catch around the deep sea Oil Platforms!
> 
> ...



I don't know what world you live on, but freshness is a BIG problem down here.  Mullet are only sold at bait stands around here.  Red snapper, oysters, shrimp etc. are not suitable for my purposes.  We do not have a central market in Corpus.  Heb tries to get fresh fish, but the one we have in Kingsville falls a bit short.  The best I can do is go for the flash frozen items.  When they actually do get some specially flown in the price skyrockets beyond my willingness to pay.  The only things to be trusted in either HEB or the hippie trucks, are the shrimp or oysters.


----------



## Timothy (Jan 6, 2012)

giggler said:


> Try some of those Hippie Trailers that sell fish on the side of the road around there


 
"Hippie Trailers" Hahahahaahahahaahaha

I love it!

(Old Retired Hippy)


----------

