Herring
Herrings are small oily fish of the genus
Clupea found in the temperate, shallow waters of the North
Atlantic and the
Baltic Sea.
There are 15 species of herring, the most abundant of which is the
Atlantic herring,
Clupea harengus. Herrings move in vast
schools, coming in spring to the shores of
Europe and
America, where they are caught, salted and smoked in great quantities.
Encyclopedia
Herrings are small oily fish of the genus
Clupea found in the temperate, shallow waters of the North
Atlantic and the
Baltic Sea.
There are 15 species of herring, the most abundant of which is the
Atlantic herring,
Clupea harengus. Herrings move in vast
schools, coming in spring to the shores of
Europe and
America, where they are caught, salted and smoked in great quantities.
Morphology
All of the 200 species in the family
Clupeidae share similar distinguishing features. They are silvery colored fish that have a single
dorsal fin. Unlike most other fish, they have soft dorsal fins that lack spines, though some species have pointed scales that form a serrated keel. They have no
lateral line and also have a protruding lower jaw somewhat like a bulldog's. Their overall size varies greatly from species to species: the
Baltic herring is small, usually about 14 to 18 centimeters in length, the Atlantic herring can grow to about 18 inches in length and weigh up to 1.5 pounds as compared to the Tropical Tarpon which can grow to a length of 80 inches and weigh up to 200 pounds .
Ecology
Environmental Defense suggests
Atlantic herring to be the most Ecological choice for eating.
Economy
Cuisine
Herring have been a staple food source, especially for northern Europeans, back to 3000 B.C. There are numerous ways the fish is served and many regional recipes: eaten raw, fermented, pickled, or cured by other techniques. The fish was sometimes known as two-eyed steak.
Environmental Defense suggests
Atlantic herring to be the most Ecological choice for eating.
Nutrition
Herring are very high in healthy long-chain
Omega-3 fatty acids,
EPA and
DHA. They are also very low in the toxins PCBs,
dioxins, and mercury.
Pickled herring
A very popular Scandinavian food item, pickled herring has been around for a long time. Most herring curing at home uses a two-step curing process. Initially, herring is cured with salt to extract water. The second stage involves removing the salt and adding flavorings, typically a vinegar/salt/sugar solution to which ingredients like peppercorn, bay leaves and raw onions are added.
Once the pickling process is finished and depending on which of the dozens of classic herring flavorings are selected, it is usually enjoyed with dark rye bread, crisp bread, or potatoes. This dish is a must at
Christmas and
Midsummer, where it is enjoyed with a schnapps.
In the middle ages the
Dutch developed a special treat known in English as soused herring.
Pickled herrings are also common in
Ashkenanzi Jewish cuisine, perhaps best known for
forshmak salad known in English simply as "chopped herring".
Rollmops
The word
Rollmops, borrowed from
Dutch , refers to a
pickled herring fillet rolled into a cylindrical shape around a piece of pickled
cucumber or an
onion.
Fermented
In Sweden, Baltic herring is fermented to make
surströmming.
Raw
A typical Dutch delicacy is raw herring with raw shredded
onions. To stop parasites, the herring has to be deep-frozen before the curing process.
Herring is also
canned and exported by many countries. A
sild is an immature herring that are canned as
sardines in
Norway.
Very young herring are called whitebait and are eaten whole as a delicacy.
Other means
A
kipper is a split and smoked herring, and a
bloater is a whole smoked herring. Both are staples of
British cuisine. According to
George Orwell in
The Road to Wigan Pier was written by George Orwell [i] and published in 1937 [i] ...
, the Emperor Charles V erected a statue to the inventor of bloaters.
In Scandinavian, Herring soup is also a traditional
soup.
Herring lore
Figuratively, a
red herring is a false lead in a mystery. In this context,
red means smoked, and a smoked herring has such a strong smell that it can be used to create a false scent that causes
hunting dogs to lose a track.
See
Atlantic herring for videos of feeding juvenile herring, catching
copepods.
See also
References
External links
-
- . This study won the Ig Nobel Prize in 2004.
- from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute
