| Craster kipper | |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Region: | Craster |
| Creators: | --> |
| Type: | Kipper |
| Serving Size: | 100 g |
Craster kippers are kippers from the Northumberland fishing village of Craster. They have been acclaimed as the best British kipper.[1]
Like the Newmarket sausage or the Stornoway black pudding, the Craster kipper is a British food named after, and strongly associated with, its place of origin. Although the herrings used for Craster kippers may no longer be strictly local,[2] the defining characteristic of the Craster kipper is that the smoking process takes place in a smokehouse located in or around the village of Craster.
Clarissa Dickson Wright has named Craster as the birthplace of the kipper.[3] There is, however, some dispute over this – other places, including the nearby town of Seahouses, also claim this distinction.
Although a long-standing tradition in Craster, commercial kipper production is currently only continued there by L. Robson & Sons, using their over 100-year-old smokehouses.[4]
The preparation process begins with selected raw North Sea herring, known locally as "silver darlings".[5] These are split, gutted and washed,[6] soaked in brine, and then taken to the smokehouse where they are cured over smouldering oak and white wood shavings for sixteen hours.[7] The famous smokehouse is unmistakable — a stone building often with white plumes pouring out of the wooden vents in the roof.[8]
In appearance a Craster kipper is still recognizably a fish; the head is preserved and, unlike some other kippers which are dyed using annatto, the natural colours of the Craster kipper's skin are tanned golden by the oak smoke.[9] The flesh has a distinctive reddish-brown colour.[10]
It has been said that comparing the Craster kipper with a common commercial processed kipper is like "comparing a fillet steak with a cheap burger",[9] and that "on the tongue, the [Craster] kipper is as delicate, as sophisticated, as the finest smoked salmon in the world and costs but a fraction of the price."[11]
Craster kippers have been described as "the best",[1] although that claim has also been made of other British kippers such as Loch Fyne kippers.[12]
. Clarissa Dickson Wright. Clarissa's England: A gamely gallop through the English counties. Hodder & Stoughton. If you go up the coast further you will come to Craster, the birthplace of the kipper. 2012. 978-1-444-72909-2.