Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
Annotations
-
Herring fish of the times: they are different too from other fish:
fish swim in schools and herrings in shoals: the Red herring and the Dutch gruen haringen.
Rich got fresh fish the {farmed fish} from own stocks: the poor got the salted ones;
the French expreesion: le caque sent toujours le hereng: says it all:
Herrings must be salted within 24 hrs. of being out of water.
A herring barrel contains 500- 600 fish and 55 pints of salt.
according to mythology the Red Herring was invented by One guy or it was accident of keeping fish on the rafters before salting and the smoke turned the fish red in the morning.
Also the herring was the diet of the Swedish soldiers during the 30 yrs. war, running around Poland and elswhere. -
And still……
raw herring (with chopped onions) is one of the Netherlands’s national dishes, to be eaten out in the open. -
Herr ing: for more on the kipper[not sea trout or salmon versions] see Salt [book pen quin] by Mark Kurlansky. A worthy reading of history and the mundane fact of life, it was a very important ingredient, that allowed humans to survive to invent this modern age. [sardines are kissing cousins]; One of the staples of trade: The Dutch sailors enjoyed[?]salt cured Herring for war ships and commerce as the British did Cod: Gleaned from Salt P 130;