X.-ON THE HERRING, AND ITS PREPARATION AS AN ARTICLE 



OF TRADE.* 



BV H.TALMAR WlDEGREN. 



Contents. 



Introduction. 



I. Preparation of common Baltic herring for consumption in Sweden and in the Ger- 

 man ports on the Baltic. 



II. Preparation of extra-fine herring for home consumption. 



III. Preparation of spiced herring, (" Kryddsill.") 



la the sea which surrounds the Scandinavian peninsula, several kinds 

 of herring are found differing in size and fatness. These are caught on 

 certain parts of the coast, and afterward brought into the market 

 under different names and prepared in various ways. Throughout the 

 whole of Sweden, there are found in the market Norwegian herring, 

 Graben herring, Ludd herring, fat herring, Goteborg or Bohusliiu her- 

 ring, Kulla herring, anchovies, small-herring, spiced herring, &c. All 

 these articles of trade are prepared from two kinds of fish, viz, the her- 

 ring properly so-called, (Clupea harengus, L.,) which in the Baltic is 

 named " stro mining," and the sprat or small-herring, (Clupea sprattus, L.) 

 The former, both in its natural state and as an article of trade, is found 

 in much larger quantities than the latter, which is caught only in com- 

 paratively small quantities, and prepared mostly as anchovies. As the 

 strommiug is nothing but a variety of the common herring, as will be 

 shown in the course of this article, the term " herring,'' or " common her- 

 ring," is used both for the herring of the Western Sea, (Atlantic and 

 Kattegat,) and the herring of the Baltic, i. e., the strommiug. The sprat 

 is at first sight distinguished from the herring by having a smaller 

 head and the lower fins placed more toward the front of the body. Its 

 belly is, moreover, sharper and furnished with serrated scales, which are 

 not found in the common herring. 



The common herring, which on certain parts of the coast is eaten so 

 extensively, has its proper home in the North Sea and the Atlantic, but 

 is also found in the seas connected with them — the Kattegat and the 

 Baltic. Like other animals and fish, the common herring has un- 

 dergone, in course of time, iu the different parts of the sea and bays 

 where it lives, various changes as to size, fatness, &c, and which are 



* Nagra ord om Sillfiske samt ora Sillens eller Strommigens riitta bercdning till han- 

 del svara : in Tidsskrift for Fiskeri. Udgivet af H. V. Fiedler, og Arthur Feddersen. 

 6te Aargang. (Kjobenhavn. Jacob Erslevs Boghandel. 1871.) pp. 63 — 80. 



