Those who were growing youngsters in England during and post, World War II and were raised in the era of the ration book; (The forties and the early fifties) may remember that there were few cars and vans about. It was a period when the horse and cart was still king of the road and most door to door sales and deliveries were made by this method. In our area, milk, coal and beer were delivered by cart and fruit and vegetables, fish, and even the rag and bone man, with his balloons and goldfish, came around with their horse and carts touting their wares.
The favourite of the children was of course the rag and bone man. But for the housewife with a limited income after paying for the essentials' such as rent, milk, coal for heating and vegetables, herring, when in season was a godsend. Cheap to buy; full of calories and containing vitamins A and D, herring could be turned in a meal suitable for any time of day.
F Watson.
Grilled Herring
To clean and bone your herrings;
Cut the head off but leave the tail on, and remove the insides.
(Your fishmonger will do this for you if you ask him)
To scale, hold the fish by the tail and using the back of a knife scrape firmly from tail to head, rinse well in cold water.
Cut off the tail and then split the fish down the belly from head to tail using a sharp knife or scissors. Loosen the small bones at each side of the backbone with the scissors, using you thumb and forefinger prise up the bone from the head end and pull it steadily away from the flesh
Rinse in cold water and place on a sloping board to drain.
Ingredients
Herrings
Some margarine or dripping
Method
Season the fish with salt and pepper
Place on the grill tray with a couple of small knobs of margarine of dripping on top.
Place tray under grill and grill until brown on both sides,
Serve with a fennel sauce
Ingredients for sauce makes ½ pint
1oz of margarine
2 tablespoons of flour
½ a pint of hot water
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of chopped fennel
Method
Melt the margarine, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes
Pour in the hot water, bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minute, season with salt and pepper to taste, and add fennel.
