Herring, Shad, and Sturgeon

Appears in
top 1000Hoppin John’s Lowcountry Cooking
Hoppin John’s Lowcountry Cooking

By John Martin Taylor

Published 1992

  • About

The anadromous species of fish—those that live in the open sea but swim up into our rivers to spawn—were important here in the Lowcountry in the old days. Prior to refrigeration, strongly salted and smoked red herring was immensely popular. Henry Laurens, a Charleston planter and merchant who was instrumental in molding the country’s Revolutionary politics, was proud of his own and sent them to colleagues abroad.

Smoked herring, locally called “kipper snacks,” is commonly found in the butcher’s case of a Lowcountry grocer, alongside the cured pork. It is often sold as bait, but it is also eaten as a snack; soaked overnight, sautéed with onions, and added to pilau; or ground and used in croquettes. It is “soul food,” a dish of area blacks. The briny cured fish is also cooked like Scottish “tatties an’ herrin’,” with onions added to the stew of potatoes, herring, and water. These are recipes that come from the Lowcountry’s great folk tradition, passed down from mother to daughter, father to son. I have never seen any of them in written form. The one exception is Willie Berry’s recipe for Dutch Herring, which follows.