Bloater (herring)

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For other uses, see Bloater.
Bloaters on yellow paper, van Gogh, 1889

Bloaters are a type of whole cold-smoked herring. Bloaters are "salted and lightly smoked without gutting, giving a characteristic slightly gamey flavour" and are particularly associated with Great Yarmouth, England.[1] Popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the food is now described as rare.[1][2] Bloaters are sometimes called Yarmouth bloater, or, jokingly, as a Yarmouth capon, two-eyed steak, or Billingsgate pheasant (after the Billingsgate Fish Market in London).[3][4][5][6]

The bloater is associated with England, kippers are associated with Scotland and the Isle of Man (the Manx kipper).[citation needed] Bloaters are "salted less and smoked for a shorter time" while kippers are "lightly salted and smoked overnight"; both dishes are referred to as red herring.[7][8] According to George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier, "The Emperor Charles V is said to have erected a statue to the inventor of bloaters."[9] They are given the name "bloater" since they are swelled, or "bloated" in preparation.[10]

Bucklings, bloaters and kippers[]

All three are types of smoked herring. Buckling is hot-smoked whole; bloaters are cold-smoked whole; kippers are split and gutted, and then cold-smoked.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Mason, Laura (2004). Food Culture in Great Britain. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 80.
  2. ^ Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh; Fisher, Nick (2007). The River Cottage Fish Book. Bloomsbury. p. 168.
  3. ^ Barrère, Albert; Leland, Charles Godfrey (1889). A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant. 1. Ballantyne Press. p. 21.
  4. ^ Barrère, Albert; Leland, Charles Godfrey (1897). A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant. 2. G. Bell. p. 373.
  5. ^ Hotten, John Camden (1874). Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal. Chatto and Windus. p. 332.
  6. ^ Morris, William; Morris, Mary (1988). Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins. HarperCollins. p. 62.
  7. ^ Bender, David A. (2007). A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford University Press. p. 256.
  8. ^ "Isle of Man: Nature: Get Kippered". BBC. 27 April 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  9. ^ Orwell, George (2003) [1937]. "Chapter 6". The Road to Wigan Pier. george-orwell.org. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011. Yet it is curious how seldom the all-importance of food is recognized. You see statues everywhere ... but none to cooks or bacon-curers or market gardeners. The Emperor Charles V is said to have erected a statue to the inventor of bloaters, but that is the only case I can think of at the moment.
  10. ^ Partridge, Eric (1983). Origins: a short etymological dictionary of modern English (1983 ed.). New York: Greenwich House. p. 50. ISBN 0-517-41425-2.
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