herring under a fur coat

The chunks of oily fish are tempered with soft shreds of sweet carrot, beet, and boiled potato, and it’s all threaded through with grassy dill. It’s even better scooped onto a freshly made silver dollar–sized blini. The dish, herring under a fur coat, is one of the most famous that chef and owner Bonnie Morales serves at her restaurant Kachka, in Portland, Oregon, and it’s also one of the most photographed dishes in Portland.

You Will Instagram This: Kachka's Herring Under a Fur Coat Anna Hezel 2019

But the most striking dish—the one everyone comes home talking about—is also the most humble, a pink-topped salad called herring under a fur coat, served in the shape of a lovely rainbow-layered galette of fish and vegetable. It looks like nothing else on earth, and it tastes like pure comfort.

Kachka's Herring Under a Fur Coat: 12 Wonders of Portland Food Matthew Korfhage 2026

“Making shuba may have made me get over my childhood fear of shuba,” says Elliot Fonarev of the popular Russian dish also known as “herring under a fur coat.”

Shuba (Russian Herring Salad) Elliot Fonarev 2026