Craster kipper
Craster kippers are kippers from the Northumberland village of Craster. They have been acclaimed as the best British kipper.[1]
Contents
Background
Like the Newmarket sausage or the Stornoway black pudding, the Craster kipper (sometimes called by aficionados simply "the Craster"[2] ) is a British food named after, and strongly associated with, its place of origin. Although the herrings used for Craster kippers may not be strictly local,[3] the defining characteristic of the Craster kipper is that the smoking process takes place in a smokehouse located in or around the village of Craster.
Clarissa Dickson Wright has named Craster as the birthplace of the kipper.[4] There is however some dispute over this – other places, including the nearby town of Seahouses, also claim this distinction.
Preparation and characteristics
Although a long-standing tradition in Craster, commercial kipper production is currently only continued there by L. Robson & Sons, using their 100-year-old smokehouses.[5]
The preparation process begins with selected raw North Sea herrings, known locally as "silver darlings".[6] These are split, gutted and washed,[7] soaked in brine, and then taken to the smokehouse where they are cured over smouldering oak and white wood shavings for sixteen hours.[8] The famous smokehouse is unmistakable — a stone building often with white plumes pouring out of the wooden vents in the roof.[9]
In appearance a Craster kipper is still recognizably a fish; the head is preserved and the natural colours of the skin are tanned golden by the oak smoke.[2] The flesh has a distinctive reddish-brown colour.[10]
Gastronomic properties
It has been said that comparing the Craster kipper with a common commercial processed kipper is like "comparing a fillet steak with a cheap burger",[2] and that "on the tongue, the [Craster] kipper is as delicate, as sophisticated, as the finest smoked salmon in the world and costs but a fraction of the price."[1]
Craster kippers have been described as "the best",[1] although in truth that claim has also been made of other British kippers such as Loch Fyne kippers.[11] and Manx kippers.[12]
See also
References
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- The commercial web site of L. Robson & Sons Ltd (Craster kipper producers)
| True herrings |
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| Other herrings | ||
| Misc herrings | ||
| Herring boats | ||
| As food | ||
| Related topics | ||
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- ↑ Hall, p. 78
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