Formerly Red Herring
The former Soviet-conquered territory of Estonia has decided to name the herring as their national fish. We here at Blue Crab Boulevard were not particularly fond of kippers when we tried them. But the folks in the Baltic regions have been inflicting them on the world for years.
The humble Baltic herring was chosen over the pike in a government-sponsored contest to find a fish suitable to join the blue, black and white flag, the blue cornflower, limestone, and chimney swallow as national symbols.
"We decided to award the title to the Baltic herring, as it is the fish that has provided a lot of traditional fare to people here," Valdur Noormae, director of the Estonian Fishery Association, said in a statement.
We have absolutely no idea whatsoever why this story made the news wires. But it does give us a chance to comment on the real reason our grandparents immigrated from Norway when they had a chance. We had a chance to eat at the Norwegian restaurant at Epcot Center a few years back. The buffet essentially consisted of various fish prepared in various ways including a lot of variations on herring. We were very pleased that they had real Norwegian aquavit in copious amounts. It helped. A lot. Sadly, the kids were too young to drink. They may forgive me in a few decades.
World news | Gaius Friday, 23 February , 2007
By Blackhawk, Friday, 23 February , 2007 @ 10:33 pm
Oh, the kipper fettish from the Norwegians isn’t limited to civilian cuisine. We exchanged MREs with a Norwegian unit in Bosnia. They got chicken and rice, we got…
…
…
Box o’ Kippers. With crackers.
At least they had a two beer limit in their mess hall.
By Lars Walker, Friday, 23 February , 2007 @ 10:51 pm
I liked the food at the Norway pavilion at Epcot. And I’m the world’s least adventurous eater.
By Bleepless, Saturday, 24 February , 2007 @ 5:28 pm
This ties in neatly with the classic “Scandinavian Humor and Other Myths.”
By bird dog, Saturday, 24 February , 2007 @ 10:25 pm
A Blue Crab that won’t eat a herring? Something wrong there.
Take your smoked kipper, salt and pepper it, and saute/heat it up in butter, serve with scrambled eggs. Eat bones and all. One of the world’s great breakfasts.