Kippers

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devonwoody

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Location
Paignton Devon
Purchased a plastic bag of kippers last week and they were B. awful.
This was the same as the last time I bought some perhaps 12 months ago, they do not taste the same as years ago, I suspect EU regulations imposed some flavour change on the curers. Does anyone know if now we are
supposed to be out of the EU our curers can return to the old process set up and give us the old smoked flavour. I am 83 years + and they never did me any harm those years ago and I am still here, and I want them back.
Will I get them?
 
You need to find a proper smokehouse or fishmonger that buys from a proper smokehouse. Anything bought in a supermarket won't cut it.
 
Some while ago, when I lived in Reading, there was a proper fishmonger in Smelly Alley that used to sell the real thing by the brace...... I think that they are gone now - the fishmonger, that is. The Manx kippers were the best .

Again, when I used a lot of Oak, a local guy took all my Oak saw-dust for cold-smoking cheese, which he did in a tiny shed, divided and adapted with an smoke-burner at the back. The cheese was excellent, but I suppose that getting decent herrings these days presents a logistic problem if you're doing your own kippers..........
 
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Nothing to do with EU requirements, more to do with them being made on the cheap with smoke flavouring.
You can still get proper kippers, like most things to get good ones it’s a case of finding somewhere that makes them.

You can also still get bloaters, made by not cutting the herring first, if you want a stronger almost gamey flavour
 
Buy from a proper smokehouse. More expensive than Tescos etc but well worth the money occassionally.

They also freeze well (IMHO) so have a delivery rather than trying to find local suppliers - although in Paignton I would not expect that you would have to go far.
 
Quite a few fishmongers sell real smoked kippers if you look around. The others are died and dipped, not even smoked. Nothing to do with the EU and kipper quality won't magically improve in our brave new world. In fact nothing will!
 
I can never get my head round the dyed fish thing. I love a bit of smoked haddock for breakfast once a week, but I only buy the undyed. Why would anyone want bright yellow fish?
 
I love kippers, last time i had some was in Lancashire 18 months ago while clearing mums place, bought 3 big ones in Booths & they were excellent. Thick fresh bread & a big dollop of good marmalade to spread on the kippers. Lovely!
 
We didn't call smoked haddock 'yellow peril' for nothing. And that was back in the fifties. When someone finds a way of producing a proper smoked FILLET of herring I'll eat them. Until then I will forgo the dubious pleasure of picking the bones out of half-chewed fish.
 

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