Kipper

This article is about a type of smoked herring. For other usages, seekipper (disambiguation).

Kippered "split" herring

Akipperis a wholeherring,a small,oily fish,that has been split in abutterfly fashionfrom tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted orpickled,andcold-smokedover smouldering wood chips (typicallyoak).

In theUnited Kingdom,Republic of Irelandand some regions ofNorth America,kippers are most commonly eaten for breakfast. In the United Kingdom, kippers, along with other preserved smoked or salted fish such as thebloaterandbuckling,were also once commonly enjoyed as ahigh teaorsuppertreat, most popularly with inland and urban working-class populations before World War II.

Terminology

The word is thought to derive from theOld Englishcypera,or copper, based on the colour of the fish.The word has various possible parallels, such asIcelandickippawhich means "to pull, snatch" and the Germanic wordkippenwhich means "to tilt, to incline". Similarly, the Middle Englishkipedenotes a basket used to catch fish. Another theory traces the word kipper to thekip,or small beak, that malesalmondevelop during the breeding season.

As a verb,kippering( "to kipper" ) means to preserve by rubbing with salt or other spices before drying in the open air or in smoke. Originally applied to the preservation of surplus fish (particularly those known as "kips," harvested during spawning runs),kipperinghas come to mean the preservation of any fish, poultry, beef or other meat in like manner. The process is usually enhanced by cleaning, filleting,butterflyingor slicing the food to expose maximum surface area to the drying and preservative agents.

Kippers, bloaters, and bucklings

All three are types of smoked herring. Kippers are split, gutted and then cold-smoked;bloatersare cold-smoked whole;bucklingsare hot-smoked whole.

Origin

The fish processing factory in the village ofSeahouses,Northumberland,is one of the places where the practice of kippering herrings is said to have originated

Although the exact origin of the kipper is unknown, this process of slitting, gutting, and smoke-curing fish iswell documented.According toMark Kurlansky,"Smoked foods almost always carry with them legends about their having been created by accident—usually the peasant hung the food too close to the fire, and then, imagine his surprise the next morning when…".For instanceThomas Nashewrote in 1599 about a fisherman fromLothinglandin theGreat Yarmouth areawho discovered smoking herring by accident.Another story of the accidental invention of kipper is set in 1843, with John Woodger ofSeahousesinNorthumberland,when fish for processing was left overnight in a room with a smoking stove.

Colouring

"Red herring": Cold-smoked herring (Scottish kippers), brined and dyed so that their flesh achieves a reddish colour

A kipper is also sometimes referred to as ared herring,although particularly strong curing is required to produce a truly red kipper. The term appears ina mid-13th century poemby the Anglo-Norman poetWalter of Bibbesworth,"He eteþ no ffyssh But heryng red."Samuel Pepysused it in his diary entry of 28 February 1660: "Up in the morning, and had some red herrings to our breakfast, while my boot-heel was a-mending, by the same token the boy left the hole as big as it was before."

The dyeing of kippers was introduced as an economy measure in theFirst World Warby avoiding the need for the long smoking processes. This allowed the kippers to be sold quickly, easily and for a substantially greater profit. Kippers were originally dyed using a coal tar dye calledbrown FK(the FK is an abbreviation of "for kippers" ), kipper brown or kipper dye. Today, kippers are usually brine-dyed using a naturalannattodye, giving the fish a deeper orange/yellow colour. European Community legislation limits the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of Brown FK to 0.15 mg/kg. Not all fish caught are suitable for the dyeing process, with mature fish more readily sought, because the density of their flesh improves the absorption of the dye. Anorange kipperis a kipper that has been dyed orange.

Kippers from theIsle of Manand some Scottish producers are not dyed; instead, the smoking time is extended in the traditional manner.

Preparation

Kippers for breakfast in England

"Cold-smoked" fish that have not been salted for preservation must be cooked before being eaten safely (they can be boiled, fried, grilled,juggedor roasted, for instance). In general, oily fish are preferred for smoking as the heat is evenly dispersed by the oil, and the flesh resists flaking apart like drier species.

In the UK, kippers are usually served at breakfast, although their popularity has declined since the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

In the United States, where kippers are much less commonly eaten than in the UK, they are almost always sold as either canned "kipper snacks" or in jars found in the refrigerated foods section. These are precooked and may be eaten without further preparation.

Industry

Kippers produced in theIsle of Manare exported around the world.Thousands are produced annually in the town ofPeel,where two kipper houses, Moore's Kipper Yard (founded 1882)and Devereau and Son (founded 1884),smoke and exportherring.

Mallaig,once the busiest herring port in Europe,is famous for its traditionally smoked kippers, as areStornowaykippers andLoch Fynekippers. The harbour village ofCrasterinNorthumberlandis famed forCraster kippers,which are prepared in a local smokehouse, sold in the village shop and exported around the world.

Related terms

TheManxword for kipper isskeddan jiarg,literallyred herring;the Irish term isscadán deargwith the same meaning.

Kipper timeis the season in which fishing for salmon in theRiver Thamesin the United Kingdom is forbidden by anAct of Parliament;this period was originally the period 3 May to 6 January but has changed since.Kipper seasonrefers (particularly among fairground workers, market workers, taxi drivers and the like) to any lean period in trade, particularly the first three or four months of the year.

Members of the Canadian military referred to English people askippersbecause they were believed to frequently eat kippers for breakfast.

The termkipperingis used inslangto mean being immersed in a room filled withcigaretteor othertobaccosmoke.

The English (UK)idiom[to be] "stitched (or" done ") up like a kipper" is commonly used to describe a situation where a person has (depending on context) been "fitted up" or "framed"; "used", unfairly treated or betrayed; or cheated out of something, with no possibility of correcting the "wrong" done.

In the children's booksThe Railway Series,and in the television showThomas the Tank Engine and Friends,The Flying Kipper is a nickname for a fast fish train usually pulled by Henry the Green Engine.

TheUnited States Department of Agriculturedefines "Kippered Beef" as a cured dry product similar to beef jerky but not as dry.

See also

• Fish preservation
• Herring as food
• Kipper tie
• List of dried foods
• List of smoked foods
• Red herring,a term for an irrelevant distraction
• Smoked fish
• Solomon Gundy

Further reading

• Bannerman, A. McK. (2001)KippersArchived28 December 2018 at theWayback MachineTorry Advisory Note No. 48,FAO, Rome.
• Turns, Anna (4 November 2023)."Comeback kipper: the fall and rise of Britain's favourite breakfast fish".The Guardian.Retrieved29 December2023.

External links

• "The lure of red herring",history of smoked fish varieties.
• Isle of Man Kipper Museum
• National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE(archive films relating to the production of kippers)
• E154 Brown FKArchived23 March 2021 at theWayback Machine
• Source it - Guardian life and style article about kippers
• Kippers, the breakfast dish that fell out of favour, are back on British menusThe Guardian,7 April 2012.
• Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring: Kippers