HERRING: A LOVE STORY - its story

Well, that is some news.

How can one fall in love with a herring, you’ll wonder.

Easy.

All you have to do is:

Start young, very young.

Have a parent who feeds you the fish till it comes out of your ears – and still like it.

Find yourself a sister soul (or rather a brother soul) with whom you’ll share this unconditional love.

Then, this person has to start collecting objects that you will consider really weird, like things made of wire or worse, brushes.

At one point, years later, you’ll find out that his latest collection of items makes sense (to you).

Like, say, a collection of beautiful dishes – we call them terrines – in which herring was placed to marinate, prior to its consumption.

(This terrine is shown in the book)

At this point, you think: “Well, that is something I wouldn’t mind writing home about”.

You then start collecting like mad, too: all sorts of pictures representing anything that can be connected to this fish and its world.

You dig (fish?) out everything you can find on the topic, and discover a whole world that you never thought existed.

Now, you can’t stop writing until you have covered most of the subject matter, including a few recipes, and a good deal of jokes.

Add to all this an enthusiastic publisher, crazy enough to believe in the project and even invest in it, and that’s it. That’s how this book came to exist.

Now it is alive and almost kicking. Just take a look and you’ll love it. As we do.

In the book: 

an engraving that dates back to 1876

True, Daniel and I put a lot of our hearts into it, but that wouldn’t have been enough. As everyone knows, fish travels best when well wrapped. Here, its paper and cover are just perfect to preserve and enhance everything that’s in the book.

In the old days, fishwives used to sell their ware in a very vocal way. I think I’ve done my bit here, and shall let you judge for yourself without screaming louder than this screen allows me to.

But as a gift, here is where you’ll also be able to discover past sounds related to the wonderful history of this ecumenical, multicultural fish, one that has saved millions of people throughout the centuries, and that is still part of the most sustainable species in the marine world. What can be more kosher? 

So, even if I’d like to tell you to rush and get your own quickly while it is still fresh, you shouldn’t worry. There’s plenty yet to come by your shores!

The French Herring!

Herring: A Love Story, by Daniel Rozensztroch and Cathie Fidler, Pointed Leaf Press. 192 pages. Available in English all over the world, and of course on the publisher's website. 

Note : Most of the pictures on this blog are there just to whet your appetite, they are not included in the book, which itself contains over 200 even more amazing ones.