[Leica] From Curry Wurst to Matjes

[douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)]

Dead right Henning,
Ostfriesland, the so called Sielorte, Carolinensiel, Neuharlingersiel, 
Greetsiel, Accumersiel etc, a whole series of small fishing villages on 
the North Sea coast, are the best bet for German Matjes and fresh 
shrimps (the tiny ones, called Granat, are the best).The local brewery 
is in Jever, they make a rather bitter pils
which is very highly rated in Germany, this should be drunk together 
with a good Korn (wheat spirit) preferably Doornkart or Hardenberger.

Most of these villages are very picturesque and very photogenic, 
particularly Greetsiel, which is overrun by tourists in summer.

 I'm not a great fan of Matjes as they come out of the barrel, but I do 
like them in a fine mayonnaise with pieces of sour apple and onion 
(Matjessalat). There is actually a Matjesfest in Emden (on the River 
Ems) every year in May when the Matjes are fresh.

For those who don't know what a Matjes is: It's a Herring caught before  
the development of roe (eggs) (Thought to be from the Dutch Meisje or 
Maagdekensharing - virgin Herring), this has nothing to do with the age 
of the fish, just the season. Reported to have been "invented" by 
Wilhelm Beukelzoon in 1395, when gutting the herrings he overlooked the 
pancreas. The pancreas contains proteolytic enzymes which "mature" the 
herring fillets and give them their characteristic flavour. The herrings 
were (and are) put in oak barrels and salted liberally, the natural 
fluids in the fish and the salt made a pickling liquid or "Sole"
which preserved the fish ( A salt herring is different, the pancreas is 
removed before salting). The enzymes make the herring fillets 
particularly mild and
tender.Matjes are not cooked. The usual form in which they are sold is 
as Matjesfilet, one side of the fish, the Doppelmatjes is both sides 
joined along the dorsal line.  The real Matjes season starts at the end 
of May and lasts till the beginning of June, they are a speciality 
caught and produced in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany (North Sea and 
Baltic Herrings (Ostseehering)) and Denmark.
Now the horrid bit: after nematodes (small worms) were discovered in 
fish, in the 70s, EU  laws were passed that all matjes herrings had to 
cooled to -45 C to kill off the worms, the salting process didn't kill 
them. This did have one advantage, you can now have Matjes all year round.

Good places to eat and take pictures are the above mentioned 
Sielorte,also  Jever, Norden, Aurich, Emden, Wilhelmshaven on the west 
coast. Take a look at Dangast too, quite close to Emden, this was an 
artists community in the thirties.  The cities of Hamburg, Bremen (also 
Worpswede and the Teufelsmoor, famous artists colony), L?neburg,then  
Ratzeburg, Eutin, M?lln, Plauen in the middle of a landscape of lakes, 
rolling hills and forests, getting closer to the Baltic - L?beck (famous 
for marzipan, possibly the most beautiful of the Hansa towns)), Kiel 
(Navy Memorial at Laboe is interesting and also has a WWII submarine as 
a museum exhibit), Flensburg (rum), then along the coast towards Poland, 
Rostock , Wismar (massive brick cathedral), then head south again for 
Schwerin (wonderful castle), Ludwigslust (the castle looks like 
Versailles), if you cross the Elbe at Lauenburg  take a look at the 
lower part of town (Unterstadt) it's very quaint too.Getting into Lower 
Saxony the towns of Uelzen and Celle have well preserved half and full 
timbered town centres, Celle is best it has a barock castle too, with 
the oldest continuously running theatre in Germany.

For fish fans visiting Germany : At certain times of the year a fish 
called a Stint (Engl. Smelt) is fished in the River Elbe, which flows 
through Hamburg, for a short time the restaurants are full of them.Very 
tasty too, lightly fried in butter. On the shores of  Northern Germany's 
largest lake, Steinhuder Meer, west of Hannover, smoked eels are a 
delicacy (although most of these are now transported live in road 
tankers from Denmark and only smoked in Steinhude) Schiilerlocken are 
available all over Germany (literally Schiller's Curls) These are smoked 
belly of dogfish (a small shark) caught in the North Sea.During smoking 
they roll up and look like the curls of a wig.
Other specialities are Kieler Sprotten (Smoked Sprats), Kutterscholle - 
Plaice or Sole fried in butter with cubes of smoked ham and a handfull 
of shrimps. Aal Gr?n is boiled eel, if you see either Forelle (Trout) or 
Karpfen (Carp) Blau on a menu this means that thewhole, only gutted, 
fish has been simmered (poached) lightly in a sour stock, usually 
vinegar or lemon juice with water - this turns the natural protective 
slime on the scales a blue colour.I'm not particularly fond of this way 
of cooking, I don't like it when the food on my plate gives me 
reproaching looks while I'm eating.
For other German specialities ask some of our Southern German 
contributors - Martin? what about Bodenseefelchen?  Zander usw.
Douglas



Henning Wulff wrote:

>
> Duckstein is actually a product of the Holsten Brauerei in Hamburg, 
> which coincidentally is also a good place to start your search for 
> Matjes. Some of the best Matjes I've had outside of the Netherlands 
> has been in the area North and West of Hamburg (where I spent my 
> youngest years), particularly Glueckstadt and other Elbe towns.
>
> While Duckstein is not one of my favourites, Holsten has produced a 
> number of beers that I've enjoyed, including Holsten 'Dry'. I don't 
> know if that's still produced, but it was the best version of the 
> 'Dry' style that I've ever had, with a  crispness that makes Pilsener 
> Urquell seem a bit soft.
>