Soused herring is raw

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, ...

soaked in a mild preserving liquid. It can be raw herring in a mild vinegar pickle or Dutch

brined In food processing, brining is treating food with brine or coarse salt which preserves and seasons the food while enhancing tenderness and flavor with additions such as herbs, spices, sugar, caramel or vinegar. Meat and fish are typically ...

herring. As well as vinegar, the marinade might contain cider, wine or tea, sugar, herbs (usually

bay leaf The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

), spices (usually mace), and chopped onion. The word 'soused' can also describe a marinated herring that has been cooked. The herring is usually baked in the (vinegar) marinade (but can be fried and then soaked in the marinade). It is served cold. This is usual in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The soused herring (''maatjesharing'' or just ''maatjes'' in Dutch, or ''Matjes/matjes'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Swedish respectively) is an especially mild salt herring, which is made from young immature herrings. The herrings are ripened for a couple of days in oak barrels in a salty solution, or

brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for b ...

. The pancreatic

enzymes Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. ...

which support the ripening make this version of salt herring especially mild and soft. Raw herring pickled in vinegar are called

rollmops Rollmops () are pickled herring fillets, rolled into a cylindrical shape, often around a savoury filling. Presentation The filling usually consists of onion, sliced pickled gherkin, or green olive with pimento. Rollmops are often skewered with ...

. As of 2015, within the EU, Dutch made ''Hollandse Nieuwe'', ''Holländischer Matjes'' and ''Hollandse maatjesharing'' have TSG Certification and German produced Glückstädter Matjes, produced in Schleswig-Holstein has ''PGI'' certification. As a

pickled herring Pickled herring is a traditional way of preserving herring as food by pickling or curing. Most cured herring uses a two-step curing process: it is first cured with salt to extract water; then the salt is removed and the herring is brined in ...

it can form one course of the traditional

twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper A twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper is traditionally prepared to commemorate Jesus' twelve disciples in Central, Northern and Eastern European cultures, especially those that were formerly part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and neighbo ...

in Poland.

History

This process of preparing herring (known as " gibbing") was developed in the Middle Ages by the Dutch. Herrings are caught between the end of May and the beginning of July in the North Sea near Denmark or Norway, before the breeding season starts. This is because herrings at this time are unusually rich in oils (over 15%) and their

roe Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooked i ...

and milt have not started to develop. The brine used for Dutch soused herring has a much lower salt content and is much milder in taste than the German Loggermatjes. To protect against infection by

nematodes The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a bro ...

of the genus

Anisakis ''Anisakis'' (a·nuh·saa·keez) is a genus of parasitic nematodes that have life cycles involving fish and marine mammals. They are infective to humans and cause anisakiasis. People who produce immunoglobulin E in response to this parasite may ...

, European Union regulations state that fish should be frozen at −20 °C for at least 24 hours. In the modern day, soused herrings can therefore be produced throughout the year.

Preparation

Through a cut in the throat, the

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

and part of the gullet are removed from the herring, eliminating any bitter taste. The liver and pancreas are left in the fish during the salt-curing process because they release enzymes essential for flavor. The herrings are then placed in the brine for approximately 5 days, traditionally in oak casks. They require no further preparation after fillet and skin removal and can be eaten as a snack with finely sliced raw onion and pickles. As skin removal requires experience, fillets or double fillets should be attempted first. The soused herrings are silvery outside and pink inside when fresh, and should not be bought if they appear grey and oily. Whereas salt herrings have a salt content of 20% and must be soaked in water before consumption, soused herrings do not need soaking.

Serving

Soused herring, served with potato salad 1

In the Netherlands soused herring is most often served as a snack, most frequently plain, or with cut onions. Whole herring is often eaten by lifting the herring by its tail and eating it upwards holding it over the mouth. Soused herring dishes in Northern Germany are traditionally served with potatoes boiled in their skins, French beans, finely sliced fried

bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...

and

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

. It is also common in Germany to eat soused herring with sliced raw onions in a bread roll, in a dish called '' Matjesbrötchen''. In some regions (e. g. Holstein), it is served on dark bread with a cowberry and cream sauce. Soused herring can also be served with cream or yogurt sauces containing onions and gherkins, or in salads. In Sweden ''matjessill'' is traditionally served with boiled potatoes, sour cream, chopped chives, crisp bread and

snaps Snaps ( ) is a Danish and Swedish word for a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. A ritual that is associated with drinking snaps is a tradition in Scandinavia, especially in Denmark and Sweden, where i ...

. Boiled eggs are popular together with this dish that is most traditionally served on Midsummer's Eve - Finland has a similar custom but ''silli'' is not associated with crisp bread. Nowadays most Swedes and Finns eat herring which comes in cans and are sliced and with added sugar. The Swedish ''matjessill'' is most often more strongly spiced than other varieties.

References

{{herrings Herring dishes Snack foods Dutch cuisine German cuisine Swedish cuisine

History

Preparation

Serving

See also

References