flavor, at once fishy, meaty, and cheesy. Such
herring are eaten as is, without desalting or
cooking.
Two particularly prized types of cured
herring are the lightly salted Dutch groen and
maatjes, or “green” and “maiden” herring,
which traditionally broke the winter-long diet
of hard-cured beef and fish. Because all
lightly cured fish must now be prefrozen to
rid them of parasites (p. 186), these formerly
seasonal delicacies are now made and enjoyed
year-round.
Cured Anchovies Anchovies, smaller and
more southerly relatives of the herring, are
cured in and around the Mediterranean to
make that region’s version of flavor-
enhancing fish sauce (see box, p. 235). The
fish are headed and gutted, then layered with
enough salt to saturate their tissue. This mass
is then weighted down and held for six to ten
months at a relatively high temperature,