Tucked away in the far right corner of Utrecht’s city center market is my favorite fish stand. (It smells just like any other fish stand). I’d go there on Saturdays, and sometimes even on Wednesday when they had those special “4 for 5 euro” specials for herring.
It’s sold year-round, but summer is the best season for the hollandse nieuwe haring — the freshest and tastiest catch. Haring is as Dutch as bicycles and long waxed hairstyles for the men. It’s so popular that the fish stand hires a dude that does nothing but clean and filet the herring for sale.
“Uitjes?”
Diced onions are offered as part of the package, and I like to sprinkle them over the raw herring. The onion bits tend to fall all over the floor if you eat the herring with your bare hands.
You can also have it in sandwich form if you’d like. It’s the broodje haring — still just the filet, but now inside a bun! There will usually be a bit of mayonnaise or garlic sauce underneath.
What started as a crush soon turned into an obsession. When the fish stands close I’d go to the grocery store (usually Albert Heijn or Jumbo), where the herring is slightly more expensive and of slightly lesser quality. But herring is herring, and I was more than satisfied.
I made sure not to eat it every day because then it would cease to be a treat, but I did think about it quite often. Can’t get this in California, I told myself, to justify my regular visits to the fish stand.
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Unintended consequences:
The only downside to raw herring I can think of is that it has a reputation like garlic. Eat one, and you’ll smell it on yourself for hours. Sometimes I’d get self-conscious if I talk to people after eating herring — as though the other person would discover my smelly secret and then shun me away.
In other words, you won’t be kissing too many people after eating one.
(unless of course, you find someone who loves raw herring just as much as you do)