A IS FOR A BEGINNING
On the fossil origins of herring in the Sea of Tethys, on the geographical spread of the Clupeidae and, in particular, our hero Clupea harengus
ARCHAEOLOGY
The earliest kitchen middens archaeological record of herring eating and why no earlier herring bones have been found
BALDIE
On the C19th Scottish origins and naming of the herring drifter known as the Baldie, including a photograph of two at Pittenweem
BALTIC HERRING
On the Baltic herring, Clupea harengus membras, found in the eastern and northern Baltic and in the Gulf of Bothnia
BATTLE OF THE HERRINGS (1429)
On the connection between Sir John Fastolf, victor at the Battle of Herrings, and Sir John Falstaff, a large Shakespearean character
BEUCKEL, Willem
On the semi-mythical C14th Dutch fisherman who may have come up with an improved method of gutting and salting herring
BLACK HERRING
On the ultra smoked and salted herring, a version of red herring, produced more for its preservation qualities than for taste or nutrition
BLOATER
On the original bloater, which may have evolved in the C17th, and the Yarmouth bloater, which was first produced there in 1835
BOHUSLÄN FISHERY
A brief history of the sporadic 'herring periods' on Sweden's Bohuslän coast and whether they're caused by sunspots or food availability
BRITTEN
On the Lowestoft-born, English composer's creative relationship with herrings, possibly spurious, certainly little commented upon
BUCKLING
On the hot-smoked herring delicacy that is buckling and its spiritual home in the small fishing town of Gudhjem on the Danish island of Bornholm
BUSS
On the large vessels developed by the Dutch for voyages to the fishing grounds off Scotland and England and for on board gutting and salting
CADGER
The derivation of the word 'cadger', a derogatory epithet for someone who tries to get things for free, and its origins in the fish trade
CANNING
A history of canning, the derivation of 'can', sardines, pilchards, herrings and sprats, the great nations and the Great Sardine Litigation
DIVINE PROVIDENCE
On interpreting the herring's grand migration as a gift from God, the ensuing arguments between nations and the eventual progress of science.
DRIED HERRING
An early method of preservation, continued in Native American cultures of the North West and South Korea
DRIFT OR GILL NETTING
On the nets used by drifters in a largely abandoned, but sustainable method of catching herring now developed unsustainably elsewhere
ENGLAND’S PATH TO WEALTH AND HONOUR
James Puckle's 1700 version of his patriotic, herring fishery promotional pamphlet, crying out for English superiority over the Dutch
ETYMOLOGY
On the derivation of the word herring and the uncertainty attached to it, along with that, similarly uncertain, of the kipper
EUPHEMISMS
Some of the names given to herrings together with the associated logics and a brief digression on the subject of Bombay duck
FARTING
The herring's squeak or fart, from C17th Lübeck to 1980s Soviet submarine incursions into Swedish waters and a 2003 Ig Nobel Award
FASTING
On herrings and fasting, fish-based fasting on Fridays and in Lent and its origins in earlier religions, cults and/or alien contact
FEEDING
On when herrings feed, their favourite foods at different points in their life cycle and the effect of what they eat on their own oiliness
FIFIE
On the development, nature and adaptability of the sailing and steam drifters, the Fifie; its unsurprising origins on the Fife coast
FLEAS
A brief, possibly unnattractive account of fleas and their use in a Norfolk fisherman's ability to predict herring catches
GOLDEN HERRING
On the golden coloured, more lightly smoked version of red herring, once sold extensively in the Mediterranean, together with recipes
GRANDMOTHER’S RECIPES
The self-indulgent inclusion of two herring dishes appearing in my Sussex grandmother's hand-written collection of strangely intermingled poems and recipes
GREEN HERRING
A very short entry explaining what green herring is, together with a visual explanation of why the silver darlings may have acquired that name
HARENG SAUR
A French-speaking smoked herring of Normandy and Belgium, le hareng saur can mean red herring, bloater (le bouffi) and kipper (le kipper)
HERRING BHURTA
Cross-cultural creation or adaptation of some genuine Indian recipe to the fish available to returning ex-pats? A dish from Harvey Day.