Hollandse Nieuwe

The Dutch herring season opened today with the customary auction of the first barrel, containing 45 herring which sold for 58,000 Euros with proceeds to charity. The "maatje", also called the Hollandse Nieuwe, is fished in the North Sea from the end of May to the beginning of July. The fish only meet the criteria for the maatje label in the fleeting period that they've become fat enough (must contain at least 16% fat) but before they spawn (have babies). Apparently just two herrings a week will give you all the Omega 3 fat you need. Leaner herrings caught out of this season are smoked, made into rollmops or frozen. The Dutch eat tens of millions of herrings per year. The right way to devour a herring is to throw your head back and gobble it down (but I prefer graceful shovelling with my fork).
For those in the know (i.e. me) there was an invitation to an event at Vis the local fish shop on The Fred. We paid just 10 euro a pop and got all you can eat and drink. With about 50 others including a couple of Sean’s colleagues, we took advantage of the local hospitality. We ate the first herring straight from the auction and watched the vendor fillet each herring individually. A pretty sloppy wet and disgusting occupation if you ask me, poor girl. The herring was served whole and raw with fresh chopped onions and pickle, and as an amuse marinated in Dutch gin for 12 hours and served on rye bread with chive cream cheese. We were also indulged in smoked eel on a wafer with homemade truffle mayonnaise, crab salad in a black wafer cone with caviar, delicious grilled tuna with sesame sauce, beautiful pink grilled salmon steaks with yakitori sauce and succulent prawns with a garlic chilli sauce. The raw herring was tender and smooth and superior to that which we had tried at the market but favourites were the crab, prawns and the salmon.
The liquid refreshments included French white wines and Jenever also known as Dutch gin - the juniper-flavored and strongly alcoholic traditional liquor of the Netherlands (tastes like medicine).
It was “fantastisch” to socialise with Sean’s colleagues from Latvia and England too.