Say what? This is what other countries do with our beloved herring
Delicious with a gherkin and onions, packed with vitamins D and B, and then just, by its tail lowered into your mouth: we’re crazy about Dutch herring. When you hear what they get up to with it abroad, all you can do is shake your head sympathetically. In mulled wine? Coated in oatmeal? For breakfast? They’re crazy.
Raw herring is typically Dutch. An onion is part of the deal, and most herring is eaten in spring, when the Hollandse Nieuwe are brought in again. Not everyone is equally enthusiastic about our raw fish, as became clear when American children were presented with a delicious herring sandwich.
Savoury snack
Norway puts its herring in brine. They turn it into spekesild, a salted herring (which is rinsed first to make it less savoury), served with pickled beetroot, dill, raw onion and crackers on the snack board.
Mulled wine
Mulled wine—that’s the warm, spiced wine for cold winter days, right? No, during the Scandinavian week at Lidl supermarket, jars of herring in mulled wine suddenly appeared on the shelves. A true Danish delicacy. Sorry, but that sounds, uh… not very tasty. Although, you could look at our Dutch pickled herring that way too, or at the iconic rollmop. Just when we wanted to try it, it was sold out. Could it actually be…? We’d love to hear from you!
Let it rot
In Sweden, they’re incredibly proud of their surströmming. These are herrings in a tin that have been fermented. That sounds very fancy, but it actually means: spoiled. The smell when you open such a tin must be indescribable; only really tough Swedes with hair on their chests can truly enjoy this.
Good morning!
Dried herring is served on the breakfast table in the Philippines, delicious with garlic rice and a boiled egg. A good start to the day?
Smoking it from head to tail
Can we have kippers for breakfast, mummy dear? Supertramp isn’t joking. And indeed, smoked, gutted herring (because that’s what kippers are) is a British delicacy. It can get even more delicious: a bloater is a smoked herring that hasn’t been gutted, so all its innards are still inside. Yum! If you fancy some, you can also buy smoked herring from a fishmonger in the Netherlands; it’s called spekbokking (hot-smoked) or kipper (cold-smoked).
In a crust
In Scotland, herring fillet is coated in oatmeal and then fried until crisp in butter or oil. It’s served with boiled potatoes. Sounds pretty good!
