Peel carrots and onions and cut into tender strips, halve onions. Put in a saucepan with all the spices – add vinegar, sugar, water and simmer gently for 15 minutes, then cool.
Cut the maties fillets into bite-sized pieces and put a layer in a jar. Season this layer with salt, sugar and sprinkle with plucked dill. On top a little marinade form and another layer of maties on top – repeated dill, salt, sugar – then repeated gravy, etc. Until the matjes are used up. Close the jar and put in the refrigerator for at least 5 days to ripen.
Important: the herrings must be covered by the broth.
Ideal accompaniment are small sweet potatoes. To do this, make potatoes in their skins, peel them and roast them in a frying pan with butter and sugar until golden brown. Brown bread also goes – as a drink a pilsner.