fish

Herring

Characteristics, habitat and nutritional properties

The herring, or Clupea harengus, is a pelagic "blue" fish of the Clupeidae family. It lives in large schools that populate only the coastal areas of the North Atlantic Ocean (Iceland, Groellandia, North America, northern Europe [above all Holland and Norway] etc); curiously, during the herring fishing it is not unusual to run into a large "abyssal" specimen (1500 meters deep) commonly called "King of the Herring".

The herring reaches an average of 50 cm in length, has a fusiform body covered with large and thin scales that do not reach the head. The mouth is pointed and covered with small teeth, while the mandible is typically prognathous; on the back, the livery is blue tending to green and fades along the silvery sides to the belly which is paler.

The herring reproduces constantly throughout the year and each specimen lays up to 40, 000 eggs; this fish feeds mainly on invertebrates, crustaceans, molluscs, eggs and larvae. Herring is a very important fish for the marine food balance of its habitat, as it represents the main source of food for seals, birds, squid, sharks and many other fish.

Historically, herring fishing has proved to be a "backbone" of the northern European food supply to Eastern Europe; to date, it is still fished to be eaten fresh or preserved (in salt or marinade), but the levels of diffusion and consumption are not remotely comparable with those of the Middle Ages. In Italy, herring is well known but extremely undervalued compared to other "blue" fish species, while in Holland it is the forefather of national cuisine and is served in all possible ways: smoked, marinated or raw.

Although historical research has shown that herring has been abundantly consumed since antiquity (3000 BC), the marketing and export of this fish only blossomed in the 14th century, thanks to the fisherman Willem Bueckelszoon who discovered the conservative methods of drying and smoking.

Herring is a fairly inexpensive and very nutritionally rich fishery product; it has an excellent supply of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids and in particular alpha-linolenic acid (exponent of the omega3 family).

Nutritional values ​​of the Herring per 100g of edible portion

Power216, 00kcal
Protein16, 50g
Lipids16, 70g
of which omega 31, 20g
carbohydrates0, 00g
Iron1, 10mg
Football57, 00mg
Thiamine (B1)0.12 microg
Retinol (vit A)12.00 microg
Ascorbic acid (vit C)traces
Calciferol (vit D)0, 07microg

See also:

  • Nutritional values ​​Atlantic herring
  • Nutritional values ​​Pacific herring
  • Nutrition values ​​Herring fillet (Alaska) in oil

How to cook Herring

As already mentioned, herring is a fish that can also be eaten raw, as long as the principles of wholesomeness of the fish caught are respected. The pathogen that typically infests herring meat is anisakis ; it is a parasite that can colonize the intestine of the animal in life and that post-morten has the ability to migrate to the meat. The preventive measures to be taken are:

  • Immediate and accurate evisceration (remove the innards without releasing their contents
  • The reduction of temperature.

Cold (-18 ° C) and hot (cooking) heat treatments guarantee the killing of any anisakis larvae present in the herring.

Recipes with herring

  • Herring Appetizer
  • Grapefruit Herring
  • Herring At work
  • Alla Calabrese Herring
  • Norwegian Herring With Potato Salad
  • Salad Herring
  • Marinated Herring
  • Marinated Herring
  • Herring Fillets With Onions
  • Herring Flan
  • Stegt Sild I Eddike
  • Herring Salad With Red Beetroot
  • Herring Marinade
  • Operakallarens Stromming
  • Herring Flans
  • Raphael appetizer