It’s fantastic that elite chefs are now embracing herring, the king of fish (Comeback Kipper: the fall and Rise of Britain’s favorite breakfast fish, 4 November). Mackerel with a torch is not comparable.
However, England’s peculiar anti-herring sentiment dates at least as far back as the Reformation; popular Protestantism was more deeply ingrained in anti-fasting sentiment than in complex issues surrounding transubstantiation.
Founded in 1935, the Herring Industry Board made a valiant effort but was unable to create a domestic market. During a 1937 debate in parliament over distributing surplus salt herring to the underprivileged, Walter Elliot, the agricultural minister at the time, stated: “You cannot feed needy children on raw salt herring.” Nothing that could agitate a child more, in my opinion.
Fresh, salted, kippered, bloatered, bucklinged, vinegar-pickled, red, silver, or golden, this fish is fantastic. If England’s quota owners hadn’t given the Dutch 95% of it, that would have been better, but perhaps they were unable to sell it here. Hurry up, England.