Sledz w Smietani (creamed herring) is a favorite accompaniment to Żubrówka, a Polish vodka flavored with bison grass. Serve on thickly cut slices of rustic black bread with a good thick crust and sweet butter.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

5 or so small pieces wine-and-herb marinated herring

¾ cup of crème fraiche or sour cream

1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon sugar

Freshly ground black pepper

½ a shredded green apple

Chopped chives.

1. Prepare a sauce for the herring by stirring together the crème fraiche or sour cream with a squeeze of lemon to taste, a tablespoon, more or less, of sugar, and ground black pepper.

2. Add the shredded apple and top with chopped chives.

Elina O’Lague opened Warszawa in 1973 next to the famous Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. The restaurant was the only one of its kind in the Bay Area at the time and an immediate success. In 1979 Elina relocated Warszawa to Santa Monica. In 2000 the New York Times picked her restaurant as one of the top six in Santa Monica.