In July of this year, a friend of mine arrived from Holland for his annual
holiday, as usual, loaded with smoked eel and “Maatjes Haring”, Holland’s two
most loved fish delicacies. Of course I was delighted but he gave me the woeful
message that this would probably the last time he could bring me herring, as the
fish monger had told him that next year there would probably none for sale at
all.
Even before the year 1000 AD, the North Sea herring fishery was thriving and one
of the factors which enabled the Dutch, by supplying the Naval and Merchant
ships with men experienced in navigation, to become the most powerful and
wealthy country of Europe in the seventeenth century, in spite of - or probably
triggered by - the eighty years war with Spain (1568-1648). Previous to that, in
the fourteenth century, Willem Beukelszoon, a herring salesman from Biervliet,
introduced a way to clean the herring quickly and efficiently with a special
little knife which removed all the intestines with one movement, except the
pancreas. Thus it became easier to clean the fish. This method is called “Haring
Kaken” and the purpose of the operation is to save time, bleed the fish, and
give it more durability while the juices of the pancreas, together with the
pickling salt, cause fermentation which makes the typical Dutch Herring a
genuine “Hollandse Haring.” This herring, which is eaten uncooked, is called by
many “Maatjes Haring”. The word “Maatje” means “measure” and a “Maatje Haring”
is a small cask formerly - and maybe still - used to store the herring.
Every year the first “maatjes” of herring of the season, in the beginning of
June I believe it is, the so called “Nieuwe Haring” or “Hollandse Nieuwe” are
symbolically flown in by helicopter and offered to Her Majesty the Queen of the
Netherlands. Actually, the “Nieuwe Haring” can now be had all through the year
because, after it was discovered about thirty years ago that some herring
harboured worms which could cause disease in humans, all the herring caught have
to be frozen at least for 24 hours at a temperature of minus 20 degrees
centigrade. The herring is usually kept for a much longer period and is then
called “Oude Haring” but actually, the quality stays the same and is, according
to connoisseurs and experts, often even better than the unfrozen, slightly
salted product in the first weeks of the season, as it was sold before the
incident with the worms which proved to be a boon afterwards. We are now able to
enjoy the “Banquet of the Sea” as it is sometimes called, all through the year.
That is, if there is any to be had. The fish sold later in the year used to be
very salty in former days and had to be soaked in cold water over night to
remove some of the salt. Some misguided people used milk but many experts find
this an abomination. This procedure is not needed anymore these days, as the
fish, when kept properly frozen until it is defrosted, is but slightly salted,
as well as delicious of texture and flavour .
Many foreign visitors to Holland stand in amazement when they see how some of
the “burghers” eat their herring from the vendor’s carts along the roads and
canals of Amsterdam and other cities. The fish monger will filet the fish,
remove the central bone and the head but leave the two sides attached to each
other at the tail. The herring is eaten - with or without chopped raw onions to
individual preference - either cut up in pieces with a tooth pick or - and this
is as it should be eaten according to age old customs - the filleted fish is
held up by the tail and the consumer lets it glide into his throat while
nibbling on the delicious denizen of the deep.
Coming home from school in Amsterdam in the old days, I often sat in the bus
next to a person who smelled decidedly of raw onions and herring which is, under
the circumstances, not ideal but understandable, as here was the true Dutch man
who had eaten his herring or two - or three - right from the stall in the
traditional way and afterwards wiped his hands either on his handkerchief or on
his corduroy pants (nowadays American style “jeans” of course).
The Clupea Harengus (Linnaeus) leads an adventurous life. His or her parents
gather at the so-called “paai gronden” or breeding grounds to spawn. When,
depends on the species as there are or were many different ones in the world.
The North Sea herring spawns in August or September at the Shetlands or Orkneys,
off Aberdeen, Scotland as well as along the east coast of England. The young
larvae-like fish is born after about ten days, after which it will drift from
one side of the North Sea to the other side where it ends up on the coast of
Denmark and Germany and even in the Skagerrak and Kattegat. There the herring
spend his youth, that is, if it is not eaten or caught by predators like man
(read: “Danes” who seem to make fishmeal out of the little ones).
In the second year of its existence - when it survives - the adolescent fry,
already fifteen to twenty cm long, ventures back to the North Sea. In the third
year it joins the already adult schools of fish there. A North Sea herring, if
undisturbed, may reach an age of 15 years and a length of 33 cm or more. The
herring is only suitable to become the genuine Dutch “Maatjes” herring in the
short period before spawning (male as well as female) when still young. In that
period the fish has a very high vet content and in this short period of about
six weeks, it has to be caught. It is in this period that the sea water warms up
and there is an explosion of plankton on which the herring feasts. The digested
plankton turns into vet which promotes the fermentation later. When it is ready
to spawn it may exist for about twenty percent out of male or female roe.
Unfortunately, “Maatjes Haring” is not available in Thailand unless you have
Dutch friends who bring it halfway across the world. Salted large herring
filets, probably from Iceland or Scandinavia, are sold in Foodland and other
supermarkets. They are very salty and have to be soaked overnight in ice water
to become suitable to be made into a “Haring Sla” or herring salad.
