herring meal ()
When you hear the word herring, what comes to mind? Tasty treat or horror from the briny depths?
Fair or foul, should these fish swim onto your plate this time of year, you might wish to take it as a sign. Carnival season is about to reach its climax.
In 2023, February 22 will be the day to send all the foolishness of the carnival season sternly to bed. Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the traditional 40-day period of reflection, repentance preparation for the holiest Christian festival of the year, Easter. For many, it’s a time of abstinence from animal products or whatever vice they may be trying to kick, at least temporarily.
Historical herring
Across many northern and central European cultures, an abundance of herring will make its way to the table for the Ash Wednesday meal. As Lent is a time to avoid animal flesh, fish is a traditional and natural replacement. But why herring specifically?
The answer can be found by looking back to the Middle Ages. Herring is native to the Baltic Sea, North Sea and northeast Atlantic. During the Middle Ages there were vast schools of Herring in shallow waters, making it abundant and easy to catch.
The herring migration and fishing season is its furthest south and nearest to Europe at the end of Carneval, or Fasching. To religious followers of the Middle Ages, the two seemed connected. Salted or soaked in brine, herring could be stored for long periods of time and transported over great distances.
The ways herring is prepared for Ash Wednesday are as varied as carnival costumes.
In Germany, “Hering mit Pellkartoffeln,” or herring with boiled potatoes, is often served, as are “Rollmöpse,” rolled-up herring. “Brathering,” batter-fried fish, pickled and preserved in a can, might also make an appearance.
On Ash Wednesday menus in Austria, you’ll find “Heringsschmaus,” a loose term for a fishy feast starring herring or other types of aquatic creatures. In one of its classic iterations, the herring is prepared as a kind of cold salad made up of tart apples, beets, onions, horseradish and sour cream. Other ingredients commonly used in the preparation of herring dishes include celery, capers, leeks and pickles.
In Spain, a different name is used for the fish eaten at the end of Carnival: sardine. Young herring are called sardines. In a ceremony known as “entierro de la sardina,” or burial of the sardine, those mourning the end of the Carnival season dress in formal black attire and march off together to bury an effigy of a sardine. The mock funeral is accompanied by drumming, dancing, fireworks and the burning of a tiny coffin.
One origin story to the sardine burial tradition comes from the rule of Charles III, king of Spain from 1759 to1788. One year, the king ordered a load of sardines as an Ash Wednesday treat for his subjects in Madrid. However, when the crates arrived and were opened, a mighty stench arose, and it was clear that the fish had spoiled along the way. The angry king ordered the fish to be buried at the site of the fiesta, and a new tradition was born.
Before nixing all notions of ever eating sardines or herring, perhaps you should give them a try.
In Portugal, fresh sardines hot from the grill make for tasty and inexpensive street food. In the Netherlands, locals enjoy snacking on “broodje haring,” a white bun with raw herring served with pickle and onion. These humble fish, love them or loathe them, are all part of the European Carneval experience.
