Scombes Scombrus

Photo © Rob Jones

You can’t say that food isn’t educational.

Well, you can. But in the case of my late breakfast this morning, you cannot.

During a ‘trawl’ of the supermarket I spotted something I didn’t recognise, mainly because it was a vivid copper colour.

Kippered Mackerel aka - Boston Mackerel, Norwegian Mackerel, Scottish Mackerel… or just Mackerel.

It was first classified by the Swedish zoologist and ‘Prince of Botanists,’ Carl Linnaeus in 1758. I once had a tour of his collection - including rare pieces in the strong room - but that’s another story. Skombros being the Greek for Mackerel. So it’s Latin name just means - Mackerelly Mackerel.

Particularly relevant to fish, Linnaeus believed in Quotas - along with tariffs, levies, export bounties, embargoes, navigation acts, subsidised investment capital, ceilings on wages, cash grants, state-licensed producer monopolies, and cartels.

According to the packet, it was caught in the North East Atlantic, zone VI - which appears to be the North Sea, though there was a caveat that it could have been caught in the seas around Rockall - Area VI.

All good so far.

Then research needed as to the adjective ‘Kippered.’ I think I naively assumed that Kippers were kippers, in as much as it was just another name for a smoked Herring, but no. Technically a fish is kippered when it is split open, salted, dried in the open air or smoked - preferably on the quayside by fishwives by hand.

The word Kipper is perhaps derived from an ancient word meaning ‘Copper.’

Kippered is a slang term meaning - totally defeated or outwitted.

Note: In China, you must eat the fish whole, from the top. Don’t flip it. Otherwise it means you have ‘flipped over the boat,’ and that’s bad luck. (Always have an even number of dishes on the table though, otherwise that’s bad luck too.').

You pay a pretty penny for such a delicacy in a posh restaurant. Mine cost £1.

Despite being smoked, it is technically raw - so I pan fried mine.

Now - where else you you get Etymology, Zoology, Geography, History, Linguistics, Cultural pointers and recipes all in one place.

R