Cooking a Kipper

Following on from goo.gl/UAciph I promised to tell you about how to cook the beautiful Fortunes of Whitby Kippers. 

In my haste to savour the salty smokiness I unfortunately used the least complimentary and definitely the most odour producing method- that being the sticking of them under a double grill. 

I was foolish in the extreme by doing this. 

Like a polythene magic fish that used to be found in Christmas Crackers the direct heat of a radiant grill in just a few minutes caused the Kipper to curl up and immolate. 

I did of course eat it but it was a 50/50 trade off between a good nutritious meal and possibly introducing harmful carcinogenics into my body. 

The lingering fish smell, not just in the kitchen but throughout the house and well into the next couple of days only, served to remind me of my ridiculous urgency. 

It reminded me of a story from my youth when at a family wedding a raw Kipper was hidden on the engine block of the bride’s Fathers car and on the way home after the celebrations everyone on the vehicle was overcome with travel sickness as it slowly cooked to destruction. 

Luckily we had over-shopped at the Fortunes Kipper Shack and so could try out some of the many methods advocated by the Smoke House owners, fish wives, learned cooks and people of a Scottish origin on the four or so pairs still wrapped up in their Yorkshire Post newsprint in the fridge.

I mention the Scottish connection in that up until the beginning of the First World War there was a massive seasonal migration of around 6000 young girls from North of the Border down to the far South West of England as they followed the herring fleet to apply their gutting and dressing skills. 

The fish was referred to as “silver darlings” although this could as easily have applied to the flowers of Scotland so far away from home. 

Steaming is a method of less odour production involving the lining of a colander with tin foil and then placing it with Kipper laid out over a pan of boiling water. This is likely to be the healthiest way of cooking with a piping hot meal after about 5 minutes. 

Baking in a tin foil parcel with a knob of butter can help to contain the distinctive Kipper smell although this process can take up to 15 to 20 minutes. 

Most of us will have just taken out the frying pan and washed the Kipper about in melted butter for a few minutes until it looks heated through. This is not recommended in a confined space or if the over-stove extractor is not working. A Kipper can be a good personal treat but yet the rest of the household are forced to participate if only on the basis of smell in these stove top operations. 

In an uncooked state a Kipper has been described as a poor mans smoked salmon. 

The raw fillet can be marinaded in an oil and lemon dressing and then in thin slices laid onto rye bread with an egg yolk. There is, in some cook books, the option of taking the raw fish with vodka or schnapps although this suggests more of an evening starter than a nourishing breakfast after which you would simply get nothing done.

I will not even bother to cover the subject of the microwaving of a Kipper as I find this upsetting and an insult to the spirit of the great fish. The same goes for "boil in the bag".

The highest level of approval for a cooking method is undoubtedly that of using a tall and squat jug. These were probably pretty common in the kitchens of yesteryear but difficult to find, even in antique or reproduction form, nowadays.

The Kipper can either keep or have its head removed before folding the sides inwards to allow insertion into the neck of the vessel. This is with the exception of the tail - the reason for this being clear later. 

Boiling water is then poured into the jug to envelope the Kipper. 

It is here that opinion differs as to the duration of the submersion. Five minutes is a popular timing although one of the founders of the famous Northumberland Craster Kipper smokers recommends at least six minutes. There is agreement that the jug method should never exceed ten minutes. 

After this virtually odourless process it is by the projecting and cool tails that the fish is removed before laying out ready for eating in a light wash of melted butter and with plenty of rounds of white,crusty bread.

My own attempt at worshipping the Fortunes of Whitby Kipper failed miserably at the first hurdle but I am determined to try and try again until I reach that level of perfection that the proud smoked herring demands.