Kippers

[Missy Hellfire]

I won't lie, I am a fan of the kipper. Manx or Scottish kippers grilled with a little butter and maybe a fried or poached egg on top and some hot buttered toast is just bliss, especially with a cup of tea to go with. I prefer a straight undyed smoked kipper but I have tried boil in the bag and even canned kipper and I have found both to be agreeable.

Are kippers as popular and readily available outside the uk? Do people still enjoy them or are they a little old fashioned for modern palates? And most importantly, if you indulge of course, how do you eat yours?

 

[LordBest]

I can only get the tinned variety here, but they are enjoyable enough. I would dearly love to try some proper kippers, but not even the better fishmongers in my city stock them. Served on buttered toast with a pot of tea, I must try them with an egg now. All the supermarkets stock them so they must be reasonably popular

 

[martinsantos]

Here they are. I prefer the smoked - well, I really like a lot smoked food.

 

[DJH]

Ah, kippers.

When I was growing up in the UK, my uncle owned a fish and meat store in Tunbridge Wells. When we went to visit we always had the best kippers for breakfast.

I also remember we could get decent ones from local fishmongers as well as those nasty vacuum sealed packs with the little nub of butter in them.

I'm sure I've not eaten any kind of kipper (or any smoked fish other than maybe salmon) for 20 years or so. I wonder if I could even buy kippers here?

 

[FRASER_NASH]

I've had wonderful kippers in some coastal towns in Maine (some fishing areas are 'very Scottish' in feel and accent).
The melting butter and egg are a must for me. But they do leave me thirsty for the rest of the day. Small price to pay for a wonderful dish.

 

[LocktownDog]

They're very hard to find here in the high desert. I usually resort to tins that have been sitting on the shelves at World Market for 6 months, or add them to my occasional online dutch grocery list.

My most recent attempt at recipe innovation was to fry them lightly and serve them over grits. Wasn't bad at all.

 

[Puzzicato]

I do love a kipper! I saw a reference recently to kippered sardines, and next time I get the smoker out I am going to have a go at making my own. Won't be the same as a proper kipper, but it should be delicious.

 

[Effingham]

I love kippers, too. (And so did my cat!)

The only thing I could ever find were the tinned variety. Apparently, I really don't know kippers, or how to eat them. I am looking forward to a good education.

 

[Smithy]

I can only get the tinned variety here, but they are enjoyable enough. I would dearly love to try some proper kippers, but not even the better fishmongers in my city stock them. Served on buttered toast with a pot of tea, I must try them with an egg now. All the supermarkets stock them so they must be reasonably popular

Woolies in Ivanhoe has the real deal and I'm pretty sure I've seen them down at QV market in some of the fish places.

I enjoy a kipper as well. The smell stinking out the house actually fondly reminds me of my youth and breakfasts at various great aunts'.

 

[Missy Hellfire]

That's the only problem really Smithy is that kippers do err towards the stinky side; my grandmother wouldn't allow them to be cooked in the house and my grandfather had a camping stove in the garden shed to cook them on! Boil in the bag kippers, whereas not as nice as the 'proper' ones are a decent way of avoiding the smell.

Locktown - I've often wondered, what exactly are grits? (Pardon my ignorance!)

 

[Smithy]

my grandmother wouldn't allow them to be cooked in the house and my grandfather had a camping stove in the garden shed to cook them on!

Classic

 

[BinkieBaumont]

The John West in the tin does not stink the house out, you boil the tin for a few mins and then open, i love em with scrambled eggs a dob of Sour Cream and a spoonful of fish jam and a pot of Lapsang Suchong

 

[LocktownDog]

Locktown - I've often wondered, what exactly are grits? (Pardon my ignorance!)

They are a sort of porridge made of corn. Boiled with a lot of butter.

 

[Smithy]

The John West in the tin does not stink the house out, you boil the tin for a few mins and then open, i love em with scrambled eggs a dob of Sour Cream and a spoonful of fish jam and a pot of Lapsang Suchong

They're not bad Binkie (I have a tin in the pantry) but they're not the real deal.

And LordBest I just returned from Woolies in Ivanhoe and they do have them. They're proper Scottish ones, obviously frozen and in the freezer bit just in front of the fish end of the deli section.

I had them not terribly long ago and they were bloody good, but I am sure one of the fishmongers has freshly smoked kippers down at the market.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

IGA have the proper scottish ones too , but I seem I prefer the John West A Nice Kipper Recipe for the Hot Weather, we are experiencing in the Swan River Colony

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article836068.ece

 

[Warbaby]

They are a sort of porridge made of corn. Boiled with a lot of butter.

Not just any old corn - grits are made from hominy which has been dried and ground fine. Hominy is corn that has been soaked in a lye solution, then washed to remove the lye. The lye bleaches the corn white and changes the flavor. The grits are boiled up like porridge and served with lots of butter or slathered with gravy. In my book, grits qualifies as one of the foods of the gods. So does that other uniquely American food, scrapple.

 

[LocktownDog]

LOVE scrapple. But since i moved from NJ, I cant find it.

 

[Smithy]

IGA have the proper scottish ones too , but I seem I prefer the John West A Nice Kipper Recipe for the Hot Weather, we are experiencing in the Swan River Colony

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article836068.ece

That would be delicious, thanks for the link Binkie.

 

[LordBest]

The local IGA certainly doesn't stock them, I'll try one of the larger Woolworths. The Ivanhoe branch is a tad out of my way, but I'll check the Queen Victoria Market. I had hoped the David Jones food hall would have them as I trundle past it on my way home from university each week on the tram. No such luck.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

David Jones are HOPELESS here in Swan River Colony, they stock all Britannia Foods products except Steak & Kidney Pud!!!!!

http://britannia.net.au/