Solomon Gundy substitute

Best substitute

Homemade Smoked Mackerel or Smoked Herring Pate

makes about 1 cup, use 1:1

Best for crackers

Close match

The genuinely close option. Flake 200g smoked mackerel or smoked herring, then pound with 2 tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, half a minced scotch bonnet, 1/4 tsp ground allspice and a grind of black pepper. This is essentially the real recipe, since solomon gundy is a homemade preparation to begin with.

Other solomon gundy substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Pickled Herring, Drained and Pounded with Spice
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Right fish, right pickled sourness, right shreddy texture.
What changes
What is missing is the smoke, which is a big part of what makes solomon gundy distinctive. Straight pickled herring tastes sweeter and sharper and reads Northern European rather than Jamaican.
Best for
crackers, spreads, dips, quick versions
Drain well, discard the onion and dill if present, and add 1/4 tsp smoked paprika per cup along with the allspice and hot pepper. The smoked paprika does surprisingly heavy lifting here.
3Canned Kippers or Sardines in Oil, Mashed
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, drained
Cheap, available everywhere, and kippers in particular are smoked herring, so the flavour family is correct.
What changes
Both are much oilier and considerably less salty than solomon gundy, and neither has any pickling sourness, so the spread tastes richer and softer and needs acid added.
Best for
crackers, toast, pantry cooking, seasoning rice
Drain thoroughly, then add 1 tbsp vinegar and 1/2 tsp sugar per can along with the allspice and pepper. Kippers are the better of the two because they are smoked; sardines are milder and sweeter.
4Anchovy Paste + Smoked Paprika + Butter
Taste and texture differ
1 part anchovy paste to 2 parts softened butter
Nails the concentrated salt and fishy umami, which is a large part of the job, and it is shelf-stable.
What changes
What it gets completely wrong is texture: solomon gundy is coarse and shreddy, this is smooth and rich. It also tastes distinctly more of butter.
Best for
seasoning pasta, seasoning rice, canapes, when the texture does not matter
Add 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp ground allspice and hot sauce to taste per 2 tbsp of the mixture. Use this when solomon gundy is an ingredient rather than the thing being served.
5Bottled Smoked Fish Paste + Hot Sauce
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount plus hot sauce and allspice to taste
British-style bloater or smoked fish paste is smooth, mild and lightly smoky, so it hits the general shape but is far gentler on every axis: less salty, less sour, less smoky and not spicy at all.
What changes
It tastes like a polite version of the real thing.
Best for
sandwiches, crackers, cooking for people who dislike strong fish
Add hot sauce, a pinch of allspice and a teaspoon of vinegar per quarter cup. Even loaded up it stays noticeably milder than solomon gundy.
6Any Smoked Fish You Can Get, Seasoned the Same Way
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Smoked trout, smoked whiting or smoked bluefish will all make a defensible solomon gundy once vinegar, sugar, allspice and scotch bonnet go in.
What changes
Trout is softer and more delicate, bluefish is oilier and stronger. The seasoning matters more than the species.
Best for
spreads, improvising, what the shop actually has
Avoid smoked salmon, which is too soft, too expensive and too distinctly flavoured to disappear into a heavily spiced pate.

What is Solomon Gundy?

Solomon Gundy is Solomon gundy is a Jamaican spread of pickled smoked herring pounded coarsely with scotch bonnet, vinegar, sugar and allspice into an intensely salty, smoky pate.

Cooking tips

Pound it, do not blend it. Solomon gundy should be coarse and shreddy so you can see the fish, and a food processor turns it into a smooth grey paste in about four seconds. A mortar and pestle or a fork against the side of a bowl is the right tool.
Very salty Jamaican smoked herring usually needs soaking first. Cover it with hot water for ten to twenty minutes, drain, taste, and repeat if it is still aggressively salty. Skipping this step is the main reason a homemade batch comes out inedible.
It is salty enough to season a whole dish on its own. If you are stirring solomon gundy or a substitute into rice, pasta or a stew, add no salt at all until the very end and then taste.
It keeps for weeks in the fridge in a sealed jar, and covering the surface with a thin film of oil helps. The vinegar, salt and smoke are all preservatives, which is the historical reason the spread exists.
Despite the shared name it has nothing to do with salmagundi, the English chopped salad, or with the nursery rhyme. If you search the name you will get all three, so look for Jamaican pickled herring paste or smoked herring pate to find real recipes.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave solomon gundy out?

If it is the thing being served on crackers, no, because there is nothing else there. If it is being used as a seasoning in rice, pasta or a stew, then yes, and you should replace what it was contributing: salt, smoke and fishy depth. A little anchovy paste, a pinch of smoked paprika and a small piece of smoked fish covers most of it.

What does solomon gundy taste like?

Intensely salty and smoky, with a sharp vinegar tang, a touch of sugar and a real hit of scotch bonnet heat, all carried by strong oily fish. It is a small-quantity food, spread thinly on a water cracker rather than eaten by the spoonful. If you like anchovies, bottarga or a strong smoked fish pate, you will recognise the territory immediately.

Is solomon gundy very spicy?

Traditionally yes, because it is made with scotch bonnet, but the heat varies enormously between makers and between homemade batches. Commercial jars are often noticeably tamer than home versions. If you are making a substitute, start with a quarter of a scotch bonnet, let it sit for an hour, then taste, because the heat spreads through the fat and gets stronger as it stands.

Is smoked herring pate the same as solomon gundy?

Close but not identical. Any smoked herring pate shares the base ingredient, but solomon gundy is specifically the Jamaican version, which means it is pickled as well as smoked and it is seasoned with scotch bonnet and allspice. A Northern European smoked herring pate is typically creamy, mild and dill-forward. Add vinegar, sugar, allspice and hot pepper and you convert one into the other.

How long does it keep once I make it?

Several weeks refrigerated in a clean sealed jar, thanks to the salt, smoke and vinegar. Keep it cold, use a clean spoon each time, and top the surface with a thin layer of oil to slow it drying out. If it develops any off smell beyond its normal strong fishiness, or any mould, discard it.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Solomon Gundy substitute

Other solomon gundy substitutes

2Pickled Herring, Drained and Pounded with Spice

3Canned Kippers or Sardines in Oil, Mashed

4Anchovy Paste + Smoked Paprika + Butter

5Bottled Smoked Fish Paste + Hot Sauce

6Any Smoked Fish You Can Get, Seasoned the Same Way