Clupea harengus, of all fish probably the one which has had most influence on the economic and political history of Europe. (For C. pallasii pallasii, the important Pacific herring, see the end of this entry.)
C. harengus is distributed right across the N. Atlantic, down to the north of France on one side and Chesapeake Bay on the other. Within the species it is possible to distinguish certain ‘races’ which have their own special characteristics. Thus the Baltic herring is smaller than the Atlantic and has a lower fat content. The maximum length of Atlantic specimens is 40 cm (16″), but the common adult length is 20–5 cm (5–7″).
Herring typically swim in enormous shoals, but the size and abundance of these shoals have been difficult to predict for as far back as records go. Fluctuations which were attributable to biological reasons have been worsened in recent times by overfishing. The North Sea stock, for example, declined by 50% from the 1950s to the 1960s. Efforts have been made by governments, unilaterally or by international agreement, to restrict the herring fishery in a manner which would permit stocks to grow again, but the intrinsic unpredictability of the species makes it difficult to discern results with certainty.
Herring are relatively oily fish, but not so oily as to preclude frying them. In this case, the best plan is to coat them with oatmeal first, as in Scotland; and they should be served with boiled, not fried, potatoes. Grilling or baking are suitable techniques, whereas poaching or steaming are inadvisable.
What is most striking about the use of herring as food is the very large number of herring cures, mostly traditional and often dating back to medieval times, which are practised. Of this multitude the kipper, the supreme example of curing herring by cold-smoking, has its own entry. Cures which use hot-smoking (when the temperature of the smoke rises above 29 °C (85 °F) and the fish begins to cook) and various methods of pickling herring are briefly described below.
Red herring are fish which have been first soaked in brine with saltpetre added, then hung up to dry before being subjected to a heavy smoking—for several days and ideally over oak, beech, and turf. The history of the ‘puissant red herring, the golden Hesperides red herring’ (as Thomas Nashe referred to it in his book Lenten Stuffe, or the Praise of the Red Herring, 1567) dates back to the 14th century and has attracted much interesting writing. Samuel (1918) commented:
This fish is not gutted until it reaches the kitchen. The Yarmouth red herring may be eaten, uncooked, during the months of October, November and December. The skin should be peeled off, the head removed, and the fish gutted and cut across into four pieces, dusted with pepper, and eaten with bread and butter. The Yarmouth red herring is locally sometimes called a ‘militiaman’; per contra, the vulgar Norfolk term for a militiaman in his red tunic … was a ‘red herring’, much as the red herring sold in the south of Scotland are sometimes known as ‘Glasgow magistrates’.
An echo of the colloquial names is found in France where a corresponding product known as hareng saur has been made since the 12th century or earlier; it has gendarme as one of its names.
Bloaters also have a long history. The name may derive from a Scandinavian term, but may equally well just refer to the fact that fish cured in this way are relatively plump, so look ‘bloated’. The similar French product, a speciality of ports in the north of Normandy, is called bouffi, also meaning swollen or bloated. The earliest references were to ‘bloat fish’. Bloaters are made from whole fish, slightly salted, washed and dried, and briefly smoked. They end up with only a faint flavour of smoke and almost no colour change, i.e. they remain silver. They can be eaten raw, in the same fashion as the red herring; or grilled and served with butter, or made into bloater paste. They have a slightly gamy flavour, due to the enzymes or ferments from the gut.
Buckling (Bucklinge in German) are hot-smoked herring which may or may not have had head and gut removed before treatment. In Germany they are usually eaten with a dark rye bread, or something similar, and butter, or served with scrambled egg and fried potatoes.
Rollmopse (which are called rollmops in English, although this name is the singular of the German name) are herring which have been beheaded, gutted, split open, deboned, and left in the form of double fillets, which are rolled up round pickled cucumber and kept in vinegar or wine and vinegar solution.
Bismarck herring are herring fillets which have been marinated in vinegar with onion rings and seasoning.
Sweet pickled herrings, with additions such as mustard sauce, are common in Denmark and are exported from there.
Surströmming, a speciality of Sweden, are whole herring fermented by the action of salt and (in past times) natural summer heat. They develop a notorious smell, even in the canned form. Davidson (1979), recounting the lore which attends this remarkable product, writes:
Cans of surströmming bulge slightly, to accommodate the fermentation. A Swedish naval officer told me that when they ate surströmming on board his ship the cans were always opened on deck, because of the smell. The procedure thereafter is to drain and rinse the fish; to sprinkle some chopped, small red onion over them, to reduce the smell; and to lift off the fillets. These are then served with the small oval potatoes which the Swedes call almond potatoes; thin slices of a special bread, tunnbröd, which the northerners carry about in their wellington boots; and butter.
Apart from cooked herring dishes and cured herring, there is also the attractive possibility of eating nieuwe haring, the first herring of the season, as the Dutch do. Many stalls in the Netherlands offer fillets which can be lowered straight into the mouth with or without any accompaniments. This was formerly a ritual which took place during a few weeks only, at the start of the season; but the presence of some tiny nematodes in the fish has made it necessary to freeze all nieuwe haring (thus killing the nematodes), and a benefit from this requirement is the availability, from frozen stocks, of the delicacy at all times of the year.
The Pacific herring, C. pallasii pallasii, is generally similar in appearance and size to its Atlantic relation. It has a wide distribution, including both the western and eastern N. Pacific, and parts of the Arctic Sea (including the White Sea). Populations have suffered from overfishing, but this species continues to represent a major food resource. In Japan it is called nishin, and is prepared in various ways; the salted roe of the female is an outstanding delicacy, known as kazunoko and an important item in the New Year menu.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Cutting, C. L. (1955), Fish Saving, London: L. Hill.
Davidson, Pamela (1979), ‘Recipes from the Soviet Union’, in Davidson (1979).
Hodgson, W. C. (1957), The Herring and its Fishery, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Riddervold, Astri (1990a), Lutefisk, Rakefisk and Herring in Norwegian Tradition, Oslo: Novus.
Samuel, Arthur Michael (1918), The Herring, London: J. Murray.
