Kipper

Whole cold-smoked herring

This article is about a type of smoked herring. For other usages, see kipper (disambiguation).

Kippered "split" herring

A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish,[1] that has been split in a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering wood chips (typically oak).

In the United Kingdom, Ireland and some regions of North America, kippers are most commonly eaten for breakfast. In the United Kingdom, kippers, along with other preserved smoked or salted fish such as the bloater and buckling, were also once commonly enjoyed as a high tea or supper treat, most popularly with inland and urban working-class populations before World War II.

## Terminology

[edit]

The word is thought to derive from the Old English cypera, or copper, based on the colour of the fish.[2] The word has various possible parallels, such as Icelandic kippa which means "to pull, snatch" and the Germanic word kippen which means "to tilt, to incline". Similarly, the Middle English kipe denotes a basket used to catch fish. Another theory traces the word kipper to the kip, or small beak, that male salmon develop during the breeding season.[citation needed][3]

As a verb, kippering ("to kipper") means to preserve by rubbing with salt or other spices before drying in the open air or in smoke. Originally applied to the preservation of surplus fish (particularly those known as "kips," harvested during spawning runs), kippering has come to mean the preservation of any fish, poultry, beef or other meat in like manner. The process is usually enhanced by cleaning, filleting, butterflying or slicing the food to expose maximum surface area to the drying and preservative agents.[citation needed][4]

### Kippers, bloaters, and bucklings

[edit]

All three are types of smoked herring. Kippers are split, gutted and then cold-smoked; bloaters are cold-smoked whole; bucklings are hot-smoked whole.[5][6][7]

## Origin

[edit]

The fish processing factory in the village of Seahouses, Northumberland, is one of the places where the practice of kippering herrings is said to have originated.

Although the exact origin of the kipper is unknown, this process of slitting, gutting, and smoke-curing fish is well documented.[note 1] According to Mark Kurlansky, "Smoked foods almost always carry with them legends about their having been created by accident—usually the peasant hung the food too close to the fire, and then, imagine his surprise the next morning when …".[8] For instance Thomas Nashe wrote in 1599 about a fisherman from Lothingland in the Great Yarmouth area who discovered smoking herring by accident.[9] Another story of the accidental invention of kipper is set in 1843, with John Woodger of Seahouses in Northumberland, when fish for processing was left overnight in a room with a smoking stove.[10][11]

## Colouring

[edit]

"Red herring": Cold-smoked herring (Scottish kippers), brined and dyed so that their flesh achieves a reddish colour

A kipper is also sometimes referred to as a red herring, although particularly strong curing is required to produce a truly red kipper.[12] The term appears in a mid-13th century poem by the Anglo-Norman poet Walter of Bibbesworth, "He eteþ no ffyssh But heryng red."[13] Samuel Pepys used it in his diary entry of 28 February 1660: "Up in the morning, and had some red herrings to our breakfast, while my boot-heel was a-mending, by the same token the boy left the hole as big as it was before."[14]

The dyeing of kippers was introduced as an economy measure in the First World War by avoiding the need for the long smoking processes. This allowed the kippers to be sold quickly, easily and for a substantially greater profit. Kippers were originally dyed using a coal tar dye called brown FK (the FK is an abbreviation of "for kippers"), kipper brown or kipper dye. Today, kippers are usually brine-dyed using a natural annatto dye, giving the fish a deeper orange/yellow colour. European Community legislation limits the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of Brown FK to 0.15 mg/kg. Not all fish caught are suitable for the dyeing process, with mature fish more readily sought, because the density of their flesh improves the absorption of the dye. An orange kipper is a kipper that has been dyed orange.[citation needed]

Kippers from the Isle of Man and some Scottish producers are not dyed; instead, the smoking time is extended in the traditional manner.[15]

## Preparation

[edit]

Kippers for breakfast in England

"Cold-smoked" fish that have not been salted for preservation must be cooked before being eaten safely (they can be boiled, fried, grilled, jugged or roasted, for instance). In general, oily fish are preferred for smoking as the heat is evenly dispersed by the oil, and the flesh resists flaking apart like drier species.[citation needed]

In the UK, kippers are usually served at breakfast, although their popularity has declined since the Victorian and Edwardian eras.[16][17][18]

In the United States, where kippers are much less commonly eaten than in the UK, they are almost always sold as either canned "kipper snacks" or in jars found in the refrigerated foods section. These are precooked and may be eaten without further preparation. [19][better source needed]

## Industry

[edit]

Kippers produced in the Isle of Man are exported around the world.[20] Thousands are produced annually in the town of Peel, where two kipper houses, Moore's Kipper Yard (founded 1882)[20] and Devereau and Son (founded 1884),[20] smoke and export herring.[citation needed]

Mallaig, once the busiest herring port in Europe,[21] is famous for its traditionally smoked kippers, as are Stornoway kippers and Loch Fyne kippers. The harbour village of Craster in Northumberland is famed for Craster kippers, which are prepared in a local smokehouse, sold in the village shop and exported around the world.[citation needed]

## Related terms

[edit]

The Manx word for kipper is skeddan jiarg, literally red herring; the Irish term is scadán dearg with the same meaning.[citation needed]

Kipper time is the season in which fishing for salmon in the River Thames in the United Kingdom is forbidden by an Act of Parliament; this period was originally the period 3 May to 6 January but has changed since.[22] Kipper season refers (particularly among fairground workers, market workers, taxi drivers and the like) to any lean period in trade, particularly the first three or four months of the year.[citation needed]

Members of the Canadian military referred to English people as kippers because they were believed to frequently eat kippers for breakfast.[23]

The English (UK) idiom [to be] "stitched (or "done") up like a kipper" is commonly used to describe a situation where a person has (depending on context) been "fitted up" or "framed"; "used", unfairly treated or betrayed; or cheated out of something, with no possibility of correcting the "wrong" done.[citation needed]

In the children's books The Railway Series, and in the television show Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, The Flying Kipper is a nickname for a fast fish train usually pulled by Henry the Green Engine.[citation needed]

The United States Department of Agriculture defines "Kippered Beef" as a cured dry product similar to beef jerky but not as dry.[24]

## See also

[edit]

* Food portal

* Fish preservation
* Herring as food
* Kipper tie
* List of dried foods
* List of smoked foods
* Red herring, a term for an irrelevant distraction
* Smoked fish
* Solomon Gundy

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The practice of smoking salmon for preservation was seen by Lewis and Clark among American Indians of the Columbia River region.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "What's an oily fish?". Food Standards Agency. 24 June 2004. Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
2. ^ "kipper | Etymology, origin and meaning of kipper by etymonline". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
3. ^ "Herring Fishing on the N.E. Coast". Country Life Illustrated. 12 (300–305): 490. 1902 - via Google Books.300–305&rft.pages=490&rft.date=1902&rft_id=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Country_Life_Illustrated/1rxFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv;=1&bsq;=kippering&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Kipper" class="Z3988">
4. ^ "Herring Fishing on the N.E. Coast". Country Life Illustrated. 12 (300–305): 490. 18 October 1902 - via Google Books.300–305&rft.pages=490&rft.date=1902-10-18&rft_id=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Country_Life_Illustrated/1rxFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv;=1&bsq;=kippering&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Kipper" class="Z3988">
5. ^ Rigby, Graeme (7 February 2019). "BUCKLING". Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
6. ^ Rigby, Graeme (7 February 2019). "BLOATER". Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
7. ^ Rigby, Graeme (8 February 2019). "KIPPER". Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
8. ^ Mark Kurlansky, 2002. Salt: A World History, ISBN 978-0-8027-1373-5.
9. ^ Hone, William (1838). The Every-day Book and Table Book. Vol. III. Glasgow: R. Griffin and Company. pp. 569–570.
10. ^ Trewin, Carol (2005). Gourmet Cornwall. Alison Hodge Publishers. p. 51\. ISBN 978-0-906720-39-4.
11. ^ Davidson, Alan (2006). Alan Davidson; Tom Jaine (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 728\. ISBN 978-0-19-280681-9.
12. ^ Quinion, Michael (2002). "The Lure of the Red Herring". WorldWideWords. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
13. ^ Bibbesworth, Walter de (2005) [c. 1250]. Rothwell, William (ed.). Femina: (Trinity College, Cambridge MS B.14.40). Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub. p. 27\. ISBN 978-0-9552124-0-6.
14. ^ Pepys Samuel (1893). "The Diary of Samuel Pepys M.A. F.R.S." Samuel Pepys' Diary. Retrieved 21 February 2006.
15. ^ "Kippers". Retrieved 2 March 2016.
16. ^ Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh (23 January 2010). "Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's herring recipes". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2023. "When cooking a special breakfast, we often have kippers"
17. ^ Smithers, Rebecca (6 April 2012). "Kippers, the breakfast dish that fell out of favour, are back on British menus". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2023. "Kippers were the quintessential British breakfast food [...] of the Victorian and Edwardian eras."
18. ^ "kippers". britannica.com. Retrieved 6 June 2023. "an iconic British breakfast dish"
19. ^ "Kipper Snacks". kingoscar.com. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
20. ^ a b c "Isle of Man". BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
21. ^ "Mallaig and its story". Mallaig Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
22. ^ "Kippers". www.fao.org. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
23. ^ Langeste, Tom (1995). Words on the wing: slang, aphorisms, catchphrases and jargon of Canadian military aviation since 1914. Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. p. 161\. ISBN 0919769535.
24. ^ "Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, Aug 2005" (PDF). USDA. Retrieved 25 July 2021.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Bannerman, A. McK. (2001) Kippers Archived 28 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Torry Advisory Note No. 48, FAO, Rome.
* Turns, Anna (4 November 2023). "Comeback kipper: the fall and rise of Britain's favourite breakfast fish". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 December 2023.

## External links

[edit]

Look up kipper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* "The lure of red herring", history of smoked fish varieties.
* Isle of Man Kipper Museum
* National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE (archive films relating to the production of kippers)
* E154 Brown FK[usurped]
* Source it - Guardian life and style article about kippers
* Kippers, the breakfast dish that fell out of favour, are back on British menus The Guardian, 7 April 2012.
* Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring: Kippers

* v
* t
* e

Herrings

True herrings|

* Clupea
* Araucanian herring
* Atlantic herring
* Baltic herring
* Pacific herring
* Chosa herring
* White Sea herring

Other herrings|

* Freshwater herrings
* Longfin herrings
* Round herrings
* Thread herrings
* Dwarf round herring

Misc herrings|

* Alewife
* Atlantic thread herring
* Australian herring
* Blueback herring
* Deepsea herring
* Hilsa herring
* Scaled herring
* Skipjack herring
* Wolf herring
* †Double-armored herring

Herring boats|

* Herring buss
* Herring seiner
* Drifter (fishing boat)
* Tradewind (schooner)
* Lydia Eva (steam drifter)
* Reaper (sailing vessel)

As food|

* Herring (food)
* Avruga caviar
* Bloater
* Brathering
* Buckling
* Dressed herring
* Gibbing
* Gwamegi
* Herring soup
* Kibinago
* Kipper
* Craster kipper
* Moskalik
* Pickled herring
* Schmaltz herring
* Solomon Gundy
* Soused herring
* Spekesild
* Surströmming
* Rollmops
* Vorschmack

Related topics|

* Herring gull
* Red herring
* Herring fair
* The Herring Song
* Herringbone
* Scania Market
* Scottish east coast fishery
* Marc Guylaine
* Netz über Bord
* Herring Hunt

* v
* t
* e

Seafood

Fish|

* Anchovy
* Barramundi
* Billfish
* Carp
* Catfish
* Cod
* Eel
* Flatfish
* Flounder
* Herring
* Mackerel
* Salmon
* Sardine
* Shark
* Sturgeon
* Swordfish
* Tilapia
* Trout
* Tuna
* Whitebait

Shellfish|

* Abalone
* Cockles
* Conch
* Crab
* Crayfish
* Geoduck
* Krill
* Lobster
* Mussels
* Oysters
* Prawn/Shrimp
* Scallops
* Sea urchins
* Crustaceans
* Molluscs

Other seafood|

* Jellyfish
* Marine mammals
* Whale
* Octopus
* Sea cucumber
* Seaweed
* Squid
* Algae
* List of seafoods
* more...

Processed
seafood|

* Caviar
* Dried fish
* Canned fish
* Cod liver oil
* Cured fish
* Fermented fish
* Fish fillet
* Fish head
* Fish oil
* Fish sauce
* Fish paste
* Fish steak
* Fish stock
* Lutefisk
* Salted fish
* Salted squid
* Shark liver oil
* Shrimp paste
* Smoked fish
* Stockfish
* Surimi
* Roe
* more...

Seafood dishes|

* List of seafood dishes
* List of crab dishes
* List of fish dishes
* List of raw fish dishes
* List of tuna dishes
* Bisque
* Chowder
* Fish and chips
* Fish pie
* Fish soup
* Fried fish
* Seafood boil
* Shark fin soup
* Sushi
* Sushi bake
* more...

Health hazards|

* Ciguatera
* Fish diseases and parasites
* Mercury in fish
* Metagonimiasis
* Scombroid food poisoning
* Shellfish poisoning

Advisory services|

* Seafood mislabelling
* Sustainable seafood
* Sustainable seafood advisory lists and certification

Animal welfare|

* Declawing of crabs
* Eyestalk ablation
* Eating live seafood
* Goldfish swallowing
* Live fish trade
* Pain in fish
* Pain in crustaceans
* Shark finning

Related topics|

* Fish preservation
* Fish processing
* Gathering seafood by hand
* History of seafood
* History of sushi
* List of seafood companies
* Pescetarianism
* Raw bar
* Salmon cannery
* Seafood restaurant

* Food portal
* Category: Seafood

* v
* t
* e

Dried fish and dried seafood

Dried fish|

* Bacalhau
* Baccalà
* Balyk
* Bokkoms
* Boknafisk
* Bombay Duck
* Bottarga
* Cantonese salted fish
* Craster kipper
* Daing
* Dried and salted cod
* Eoran
* Fesikh
* Gwamegi
* Jwipo
* Karasumi
* Katsuobushi
* Keumamah [id]
* Kipper
* Kusaya
* Maldives fish
* Mojama
* Niboshi
* Piracuí
* Sanyaa
* Stockfish
* Taran
* Tatami Iwashi
* Vobla
* Yukola

Dried seafood|

* Conpoy
* Dried shredded squid
* Dried shrimp
* Musciame

Misc.|

* List of dried foods

* v
* t
* e

English cuisine

Roman times|

| Dishes|

* Sausages

|

Middle Ages
to 15th century|

| Exemplars|

* Utilis Coquinario (c. 1300)
* The Forme of Cury (c. 1390)

|

Dishes|

* Apple pie
* Bacon
* Banbury cake
* Cheesecake
* Custard
* Game pie
* Gingerbread
* Kippers
* Mince pie
* Mortis
* Pasty
* Pease pudding
* Pie
* Pottage

16th century|

| Exemplars|

* Richard Pynson (The Boke of Cokery, 1500)
* Thomas Dawson (The Good Huswifes Jewell, 1585)

|

Dishes|

* Black pudding
* Fruit fool
* Pancake
* Scones
* Syllabub
* Trifle (without jelly)

17th century|

| Exemplars|

* Elinor Fettiplace (Receipt Book, 1604)
* Gervase Markham (The English Huswife, 1615)
* Robert May (The Accomplisht Cook, 1660)
* Hannah Woolley (The Queen-like Closet or Rich Cabinet 1670)
* John Evelyn (Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets 1699)
* Kenelm Digby (The Closet Opened 1699)

|

Dishes|

* Battalia pie
* Currant bun
* Queen of Puddings
* Sponge cake
* Sussex pond pudding
* Sweet and sour
* Tea

18th century|

| Exemplars|

* Mary Kettilby (A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery 1714)
* Mary Eales (Mrs Mary Eales's Receipts 1718)
* John Nott (The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary, 1723)
* Eliza Smith (The Compleat Housewife 1727)
* Hannah Glasse (The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy 1747)
* Ann Cook (Professed Cookery, 1754)
* Martha Bradley (The British Housewife 1758)
* Primitive Cookery (1767)
* Elizabeth Raffald (The Experienced English Housekeeper 1769)
* Richard Briggs (The English Art of Cookery 1788)
* William Augustus Henderson (The Housekeeper's Instructor 1791)

|

Dishes|

* Bread and butter pudding
* Christmas pudding
* Chutney
* Curry
* In UK
* Cottage or Shepherd's pie
* Cumberland rum nicky
* Eccles cake
* Jellied eels
* Jugged hare
* Ketchup
* Marmalade
* Parkin
* Piccalilli
* Pork pie
* Roast beef
* Sandwich
* Scouse
* Suet pudding
* Toad in the hole
* Trifle (with jelly)
* Welsh rarebit
* Yorkshire pudding

19th century|

| Exemplars|

* Maria Rundell (A New System of Domestic Cookery 1806)
* Martha Brotherton (Vegetable Cookery 1812)
* Eliza Acton (Modern Cookery for Private Families 1845)
* Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846)
* Isabella Beeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861)

|

Dishes|

* Bubble and squeak
* Cauliflower cheese
* Cobbler
* Devilled kidneys
* Faggots
* Fish and chips
* Full English breakfast
* HP Sauce
* Ice cream cone
* Lancashire hotpot
* Potted shrimps
* Sausage roll
* Steak and kidney pudding
* Battenberg cake
* Eton mess
* Eve's pudding
* Jam roly-poly
* Lardy cake
* Madeira cake
* Summer pudding
* Windsor soup
* Worcestershire sauce

20th century|

| Exemplars|

* Florence Petty
* Elizabeth David (A Book of Mediterranean Food 1950)
* Dorothy Hartley (Food in England 1954)
* Constance Spry
* Fanny Cradock
* Marguerite Patten
* Jane Grigson
* Delia Smith
* Rick Stein
* Nigel Slater
* Keith Floyd
* Marco Pierre White
* Nigella Lawson
* Jamie Oliver
* Fergus Henderson (The Whole Beast 1999)
* Gordon Ramsay
* Gary Rhodes
* Mary Berry

|

Dishes|

* Bakewell tart
* Beef Wellington
* Carrot cake
* Chicken tikka masala
* Coronation chicken
* Crumble
* Knickerbocker glory
* Ploughman's lunch
* Salad cream
* Sticky toffee pudding

21st century|

| Exemplars|

* Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck)
* Lizzie Collingham
* Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (River Cottage)
* Rachel Khoo
* Michel Roux Jr. (Le Gavroche)
* Antony Worrall Thompson
* Clarissa Dickson Wright (A History of English Food 2011)

|

Dishes|

* Coronation quiche
* Platinum Pudding

Related|

* List of English dishes
* List of English cheeses
* List of savoury puddings
* List of sweet puddings
* Rationing in the United Kingdom

* v
* t
* e

Scottish cuisine

Cereal|

* Brose
* Porridge
* Skirlie
* Sowans

Soups|

* Cock-a-leekie soup
* Cullen skink
* Hairst bree, or hodge-podge
* Partan bree
* Powsowdie
* Scotch broth

Meats|

* Balmoral chicken
* Black pudding (Stornoway black pudding)
* Chicken tikka masala
* Collops
* Forfar bridie
* Fried chicken
* Fruit pudding
* Full Scottish breakfast
* Guga
* Haggis
* Haggis pakora
* Killie pie
* King Rib
* Link sausage
* Lorne sausage, or square sausage
* Macon
* Mince and tatties
* Munchy box
* Popeseye steak
* Pottit heid and potted hough
* Red pudding
* Reestit mutton
* Scotch pie
* Steak pie
* Stovies
* White pudding

Fish and seafood|

* Arbroath smokie
* Cabbie claw
* Crappit heid
* Eyemouth pale
* Finnan haddie
* Fish and chips
* Kedgeree
* Kipper (Loch Fyne kipper)
* Rollmops
* Smoked salmon (Lochmuir)

Vegetables|

* Clapshot
* Kail
* Kailkenny
* Neeps and tatties
* Rumbledethumps

Fruit|

* Blaeberry
* Bramble
* Raspberry
* Rowan, and rowan jelly
* Strawberry
* Tayberry

Dairy|

* Bonchester cheese
* Caboc
* Crowdie
* Dunlop cheese
* Hatted kit
* Isle of Mull Cheddar
* Lanark Blue
* Shropshire Blue (orig. Inverness-shire Blue, Blue Stuart)
* Teviotdale cheese

Breads|

* Bannock
* Buttery, or rowie
* Deep-fried pizza
* Macaroni pie
* Morning roll
* Oatcake
* Pan loaf
* Plain loaf
* Soda bread (Farl)
* Tattie scone

Puddings, sweets,
cakes, biscuits|

* Abernethy biscuit
* Barley sugar
* Berwick cockle
* Black bun
* Caramel shortbread
* Carrageen moss
* Claggum, or clack
* Clootie dumpling
* Cranachan
* Deep-fried Mars bar
* Digestive biscuit
* Dundee cake
* Dundee marmalade (Keiller's marmalade)
* Edinburgh rock
* Empire biscuit
* Fatty cutties
* Festy cock
* Flapjack
* Fruit slice, or fly cemetery
* Fudge doughnut
* Hatted kit
* Hawick balls
* Heather honey
* Jethart snails
* Lucky tattie
* Macaroon
* Moffat toffee
* Pan drop (Scotch mint)
* Paris buns
* Scone (Girdle scone)
* Scottish crumpet
* Scottish pancake, or drop scone
* Selkirk bannock
* Shortbread
* Soor plooms
* Star rock
* Tablet
* Tunnock's caramel wafer
* Tunnock's teacake
* Tipsy laird

Drinks|

* Atholl brose
* Beer in Scotland (Scotch ale)
* Bouvrage
* Breakfast tea
* Drambuie
* Glayva
* Irn-Bru
* Red Kola
* Scotch whisky (Single malt Scotch)

Other articles:

* Barbara Gilmour
* Brochan Lom
* Fallaid
* Haggis hurling
* List of restaurants in Scotland
* Scotland Food & Drink (Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight)
* Scottish pork taboo
* Spurtle
* Wild haggis

* Scotland portal
* Food portal
* Category: Scottish cuisine
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[†]: Extinct
*[c.]: circa