The herring can be bought in many forms from fresh out of the sea to various cured forms such as kippers and buckling. Great Yarmouth in Norfolk was once renowned for the way its fisher folk cured herring to make bloaters. A red herring is not just the name for a distraction or twist in a detective novel, it also refers to the colour herrings became when they were cured in a particular way.
Bloater paste was once a traditional part of an English Sunday afternoon tea and served as a sandwich filling or on toast. Kippers were traditionally served at breakfast and heated through by briefly poaching or grilling, but they can also be made into a nice paté to serve as a starter for a main meal or as a lunchtime snack. Some herring recipes are given here. Why not serve them up on St Cuthbert's day?
Recipe for Smoked Herring Paté
Ingredients:
- 6 oz smoked herring (or kipper) fillets
- 3 oz cream cheese
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Method:
- Remove any skin from the fish fillets
- Put the fillets, cheese and lemon juice in a blender, season well with the salt and pepper and whiz together until smooth
- Serve with hot buttered toast or on blinis garnished with dill or chives
Soused Herring Recipe
Ingredients:
- 8 herring fillets
- 1 onion
- 6 peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ pt malt vinegar
- ¼ pint water
- Couple of sprigs of parsley
- Salt and black pepper
Method:
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over the herring fillets and roll them up
- Peel and chop the onion into rings
- Finely chop the parsley
- Put in a casserole dish and add the rest of the dry ingredients
- Season well with salt and pepper
- Pour in enough water and vinegar so that the fish is just covered
- Cover the dish and bake in the oven on gas mark 4, 180 C, 350 F for about ¾ of an hour
- Leave them in the vinegar and water mixture and serve cold
- These were traditionally a breakfast or luncheon dish. Serve at breakfast with toast or at lunch with a green salad
Recipe for Stuffed Herring
Ingredients:
- 4 fresh herring
- ½ small onion
- 1 hard boiled egg
- 2 oz breadcrumbs
- Melted butter to mix (about 1 oz)
- Salt and black pepper
Method:
- Finely chop the onion
- Chop the egg
- Mix the egg and onion together with the breadcrumbs
- Season with the salt and pepper
- Add enough melted butter to the stuffing to bind it
- Put the stuffing inside the herrings and place in a casserole dish
- Cook in the oven on gas mark 4, 180 C, 350F for about half an hour
- Serve for lunch with a salad or dinner with new potatoes and peas
Sources:
The Times Digital Archive
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