The Herring in the Netherlands

The consumption of herring is treated by the Dutch with a properly serious attitude, and the visitor should know what names are applied to this fish in its various guises. Here they are.

Groene (or NIEUWE) HARINGEN are herring caught at the beginning of the season, in April or May. They are almost completely gutted on board, deboned, lightly salted and allowed to ferment briefly by the action of intestinal enzymes. They used then to be sold thus for immediate consumption. In Amsterdam they would cut up the herring and eat the pieces from toothpicks. In The Hague they would leave the tail on, so that they could lower the fish into the mouth and bite off piece after piece, like mouthfuls of soft butter, taking a little chopped onion between bites