This process is generally conducted in so negligent and rough a manner—excepting at Yarmouth and Lowestoft—that a little advice on the subject may not be out of place. As the barrels are emptied of their contents, the largest fish should be picked out from the rest, and pickled separately, for otherwise the consumer gets the finest herrings hardly tasting of salt, and most likely in a state of decay, while the small ones are so much oversalted, as to be scarcely eatable. As the fish generally come to hand far from clean, they should be washed by means of round baskets agitated in tubs of salt and water, and turned into separate pickling vats, which should have false bottoms in them, perforated here and there with holes, taps also being introduced to let off the pickle when required. The safest and best method is to make use of saturated solutions of salt, which are made by adding twenty-nine pounds of common salt to seventy-one pounds of water. The herrings will float in this pickle, but must be totally immersed by battens of wood laid on the top of them, and held down by little bags of salt, which, being gradually dissolved, will maintain the strength of the solution, which is always lessened as the fish imbibe the muriatic property thereof, and all pickles of this description are weaker at the surface than at the bottom, and may in this way be rectified. (See Note, No. 4.) As to the length of time the fish should remain in the pickle, that depends whether they came to hand with coarse salt scattered amongst them, at the sea coast, a precaution necessary in hot weather; a good criterion is when the fish begin to be stiff or rigid while being handled, but to try one or two cooked is certainly a sure proof. Pure fresh water must never be added or made use of in this process after salt has been imbibed, or the heads will all be broken when putting them on the spits. When salt enough, run off the brine, and shortly commence putting your fish on the rods, and hang them up in a current of air, then remove them to your chimney, and smoke them with
| Oak lops | 2 | parts |
| Beech chips | 2 | parts |
| Fern or grass turfs | 2 | parts |
When they have been smoked enough, return them to the air currents, as they keep much better on the rods until wanted. If a constant and full smoke has been kept up, twelve hours will be sufficient for the smaller fish, and sixteen to eighteen hours for the large ones. They are not intended to keep good more than four or five days, but in perfection should be eaten the day after being cured.
KIPPERED HERRINGS.
The herring is so favourite a fish with the majority of society, that any improvement in the modes of curing them is a valuable acquisition. The getting rid of the gut and other objectionable parts recommends itself, and claims a decided preference over the old practice of sending the fish to table whole, and, in fact, carrying to the parlour what ought to have been left in the scullery. The salting process should be conducted in a similar manner to that for bloaters, and when taken out of pickle, should be wiped dry, and then split open at the backs, leaving the bone bare as possible; yet, an inch from the tail, the thin side should remain attached to the thick side, this adds much to the appearance of the fish when at table, and saves the curer some trouble in the succeeding stages of process. Clean out all the offal and gills, and wipe with cloths dipped in salt and water, and suspend them by the shoulders upon the tenter hooks of your rods, thus avoiding the trouble caused by the old plan of keeping the fish open by splints of wood. Hang them in a free current of air, and when dried enough—one night is generally sufficient for that purpose—hang them in the chimney, and smoke them of a nice chesnut brown colour, and keep them on the rods, but not in a current, though in a dry room and cold air; when packed it should be insides faces together, with strips of dry oiled paper between each two fish.
SUPERIOR SPICED KIPPERED HERRING.
This is a more troublesome, but withal a delicious preparation of the herring, and should be practised on the best and freshest fish, as on the Isle of Man—“Manx herrings”—in July and August, and the Yarmouth later on in the season. Select two dozen from out of a lot of fish, the largest and roundest, wash them a minute in salt and water, having taken out the eyes and gills, wipe them, and lay them open at the back, wipe clean out, and put them into a pickle made by boiling water for twenty minutes, skimming, and then straining through a sieve,
| Rock salt or bay salt | 1½ | lb. |
| Coarse sugar | 1 | lb. |
| Allspice, ground | 2 | oz. |
| Fifteen bay leaves, shred | ||
| Six laurel leaves, shred | ||
| Water, | 5 | quarts |
Let the fish remain in this six hours, then hang them by their shoulders, and stretched widely open, to dry in a quick current of air. In this, and all similar cases, where the inside is to be acted upon by the atmosphere, those sides should be placed on the hooks so as to receive the full advantage of the air current. When dried as you think sufficiently, hang them in the chimney, and smoke them till of a fine bright brown; return them to the air, and next day take them off the hooks, lay them on their backs, and brush them all over the inside with essence of allspice and water, two parts of the former to one part of the latter; repeat this, and when absorbed, brush them over again liberally with this mixture:
| Essence of cassia | 2 | tablespoonfuls |
| Essence of cloves | 4 | tablespoonfuls |
| Essence of mace | 2 | tablespoonfuls |
| Essence of bays | 4 | tablespoonfuls |
| Water | 6 | tablespoonfuls |