| I bought my first herrings of the season off Dan the Fishman’s colourful barrow at South Molton Market on Thursday, seven largish ones for under a tenner. Several people were buying and discussing their favourite Clovelly herring recipes. Dan recommended rolling them in oatmeal and putting in the fridge for half an hour, so the oats stick, before pan frying in a mix of butter and olive oil. My herrings were going – on the wood burning stove! “What about the bones?” someone asked. “They’re not bones,” Dan replied – “they’re sea whiskers”. “Guts?” chimed another sceptic. “Herring don’t eat while they’re in the bay – so they’re clean as a whistle,” Dan replied, “all you need to do is chop the head off and pull out the red line”. |  Dan with Boat Stories at Foodfest |
 Clovelly herrings on the woodburner  skins seared and dripping juices You could do the same on an open fire if you're lucky enough to have one - just keep watch because they cook quickly. Other wise simply roasted or pan fried they're delicious. | Dan can be very persuasive – but Mike, my husband agrees, “it’s got to be one of the easiest and quickest meals to prepare,” he says, very happy that supper is sorted. And because they start to arrive in numbers around mid October and last through to December or January, they’re a great winter warmer. So we light the wood burner. Mike slices the herring deftly right down to the tail, removes the roe (recipes another day!) and opens the fish out flat. ‘Spatchcocking,’ he calls it – what a great word - but apparently with fish it’s known as butterflying or kiting. Then he lays (one per person) on an old Aga toaster – and adds nothing – not even pepper, salt, garlic or oil which is unusual for us. He rakes the embers out flat and the fish go on for less than two minutes each side. They’re full of their own oils, which spit and spatter and as the wood smoke and flames chars the flesh, a delicious, sensual, mouth-watering aroma pervades the house, calling everyone to watch. We eat them with a slice of lemon and a crust of nutty bread from Red Dog bakery to wipe up the juices. And demand seconds. Each year I forget quite how succulent and sweet they are – and the kids all love them! Apart from a quick scrub of the toaster, there’s not even any cooking utensils to wash up! |
| I check with Stephen Perham, who caught the herrings we’ve just eaten. “I’ve had one or two good hauls now and the numbers should pick up”, he says promisingly. Our next film to go into production will, with a fair wind, be about Clovelly herrings. Meanwhile support your local fishermen by buying herrings from Clovelly, from Dan the Fishman, Passmores in Butcher’s Row or other local fishmongers: contacts on our fish page. The Clovelly herring festival is on Sunday 16th November this year. It’s a great day out, tickets on the day from the visitor centre. I’ll write about it soon as a reminder. |  Gossiping fishwives at Clovelly Herring Festival |
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