Editing Kipper

{{Short description|Whole cold-smoked herring}}
{{About|a type of smoked herring|other usages|kipper (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
[[File:Kipper.JPG|right|thumb|300px|{{center|Kippered "split" herring}}]]

A '''kipper''' is a whole [[Herring as food|herring]], a small, [[oily fish]],<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/jun/oilyfishdefinition |title = What's an oily fish? |date = 24 June 2004 |publisher = [[Food Standards Agency]] |access-date = 29 May 2009 |archive-date = 10 December 2010 |archive-url = http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101210005807/http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/jun/oilyfishdefinition |url-status = dead }}</ref> that has been split in a [[Butterflying|butterfly fashion]] from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or [[Pickling|pickled]], and [[Smoking (cooking)#Types|cold-smoked]] over smouldering wood chips (typically [[oak]]).

In the [[United Kingdom]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and some regions of [[North America]], kippers are most commonly eaten for breakfast. In the United Kingdom, kippers, along with other preserved smoked or salted fish such as the [[bloater (herring)|bloater]] and [[buckling (fish)|buckling]], were also once commonly enjoyed as a [[high tea]] or [[supper]] treat, most popularly with inland and urban working-class populations before World War II.

==Terminology==
The word is thought to derive from the [[Old English language|Old English]] ''cypera'', or copper, based on the colour of the fish.<ref>{{Cite web |title=kipper {{!}} Etymology, origin and meaning of kipper by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/kipper |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en}}</ref> The word has various possible parallels, such as [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] ''kippa'' which means "to pull, snatch" and the Germanic word ''kippen'' which means "to tilt, to incline". Similarly, the Middle English ''kipe'' denotes a basket used to catch fish. Another theory traces the word kipper to the ''kip'', or small beak, that male [[salmon]] develop during the breeding season.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

As a verb, ''kippering'' ("to kipper") means to preserve by rubbing with salt or other spices before drying in the open air or in smoke. 
Originally applied to the preservation of surplus fish (particularly those known as "kips," harvested during spawning runs), ''kippering'' has come to mean the preservation of any fish, poultry, beef or other meat in like manner. The process is usually enhanced by cleaning, filleting, [[butterflying]] or slicing the food to expose maximum surface area to the drying and preservative agents.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

===Kippers, bloaters, and bucklings===
All three are types of smoked herring. Kippers are split, gutted and then cold-smoked; [[Bloater (herring)|bloaters]] are cold-smoked whole; [[Buckling (fish)|bucklings]] are hot-smoked whole.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rigby |first=Graeme |date=2019-02-07 |title=BUCKLING |url=https://www.herripedia.com/buckling/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rigby |first=Graeme |date=2019-02-07 |title=BLOATER |url=https://www.herripedia.com/bloaters/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rigby |first=Graeme |date=2019-02-08 |title=KIPPER |url=https://www.herripedia.com/kippers/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Origin<!-- this section is linked to from [[Craster kipper]] --> ==
[[File:Kipperfactoryseahouses.jpg|thumb|The fish processing factory in the village of [[Seahouses]], [[Northumberland]], is one of the places where the practice of kippering herrings is said to have originated.]]

Although the exact origin of the kipper is unknown, this process of slitting, gutting, and smoke-curing fish is [[History of fishing|well documented]].{{NoteTag|The practice of smoking salmon for preservation was seen by Lewis and Clark among American Indians of the Columbia River region.}} According to [[Mark Kurlansky]], "Smoked foods almost always carry with them legends about their having been created by accident—usually the peasant hung the food too close to the fire, and then, imagine his surprise the next morning when …".<ref>Mark Kurlansky, 2002. ''Salt: A World History'', {{ISBN|978-0-8027-1373-5}}.</ref> For instance [[Thomas Nashe]] wrote in 1599 about a fisherman from [[Lothingland]] in the [[Great Yarmouth (borough)|Great Yarmouth area]] who discovered smoking herring by accident.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hone|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzsHAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA4-PA569|title=The Every-day Book and Table Book|date=1838|publisher=R. Griffin and Company|pages=569–570|volume=III|place=Glasgow}}</ref> Another story of the accidental invention of kipper is set in 1843, with John Woodger of [[Seahouses]] in [[Northumberland]], when fish for processing was left overnight in a room with a smoking stove.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Trewin|first=Carol|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=swU53UBC1LEC&pg=PA51|title=Gourmet Cornwall|date=2005|publisher=Alison Hodge Publishers|isbn=978-0-906720-39-4|page=51}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Davidson|first=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmQjAQAAIAAJ|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|date=2006|editor1=Alan Davidson|editor2= Tom Jaine
|publisher=Oxford University Press|place= Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-280681-9|page=728}}</ref>

==Colouring==
[[File:Red herring.jpg|thumb|left|"Red herring": Cold-smoked herring (Scottish kippers), brined and dyed so that their flesh achieves a reddish colour]]

A kipper is also sometimes referred to as a ''red herring'', although particularly strong curing is required to produce a truly red kipper.<ref>{{cite web | author=Quinion, Michael | author-link=Michael Quinion | year=2002| title=The Lure of the Red Herring | work=WorldWideWords | url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/herring.htm | access-date=21 April 2007}}</ref>
The term appears in [[The Treatise (Walter of Bibbesworth)|a mid-13th century poem]] by the Anglo-Norman poet [[Walter of Bibbesworth]], "He eteþ no ffyssh But heryng red."<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Rothwell|editor-first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmocAQAAIAAJ|title=Femina: (Trinity College, Cambridge MS B.14.40)|date=2005|publisher=Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub|isbn=978-0-9552124-0-6|page=27|author-link=Walter of Bibbesworth |author-last=Bibbesworth | author-first=Walter de | orig-date= c. 1250}}</ref> [[Samuel Pepys]] used it in his diary entry of 28 February 1660: "Up in the morning, and had some red herrings to our breakfast, while my boot-heel was a-mending, by the same token the boy left the hole as big as it was before."<ref>{{cite web | author=Pepys Samuel | author-link=Samuel Pepys | year=1893| title=The Diary of Samuel Pepys M.A. F.R.S. | work=Samuel Pepys' Diary | url=http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1660/02/28/index.php | access-date=21 February 2006}}</ref>

The dyeing of kippers was introduced as an economy measure in the [[First World War]] by avoiding the need for the long smoking processes.  This allowed the kippers to be sold quickly, easily and for a substantially greater profit.  Kippers were originally dyed using a coal tar dye called [[brown FK]] (the FK is an abbreviation of "for kippers"), kipper brown or kipper dye. Today, kippers are usually brine-dyed using a natural [[annatto]] dye, giving the fish a deeper orange/yellow colour.  European Community legislation limits the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of Brown FK to 0.15&nbsp;mg/kg. Not all fish caught are suitable for the dyeing process, with mature fish more readily sought, because the density of their flesh improves the absorption of the dye. An ''orange kipper'' is a kipper that has been dyed orange.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

Kippers from the [[Isle of Man]] and some [[Scotland|Scottish]] producers are not dyed; instead, the smoking time is extended in the traditional manner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deliaonline.com/ingredients/ingredients-a-z/Ingredients-j-l/Kippers.html|title=Kippers|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref>
{{clear}}

==Preparation==
[[File:Kippers at Burton Bradstock.jpg|right|thumb|Kippers for breakfast in England]]

"Cold-smoked" fish that have not been salted for preservation must be cooked before being eaten safely (they can be boiled, fried, grilled, [[jugged]] or roasted, for instance). In general, oily fish are preferred for smoking as the heat is evenly dispersed by the oil, and the flesh resists flaking apart like drier species.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

In the UK, kippers are usually served at breakfast, although their popularity has declined since the Victorian and Edwardian eras.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fearnley-Whittingstall |first1=Hugh |title=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's herring recipes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/23/herring-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall |newspaper=The Guardian |date=23 January 2010 |access-date=6 June 2023 |quote=When cooking a special breakfast, we often have kippers}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Smithers |first1=Rebecca |title=Kippers, the breakfast dish that fell out of favour, are back on British menus |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/07/food-kippers-smoked-fish-sales-revival |newspaper=The Guardian |date=6 April 2012 |access-date=6 June 2023 |quote=Kippers were the quintessential British breakfast food [...] of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=kippers |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/kippers |website=britannica.com |access-date=6 June 2023 |quote=an iconic British breakfast dish}}</ref>

In the United States, where kippers are much less commonly eaten than in the UK, they are almost always sold as either canned "kipper snacks" or in jars found in the refrigerated foods section. These are precooked and may be eaten without further preparation. <ref>{{cite web |title=Kipper Snacks |url=https://www.kingoscar.com/products/kipper-snacks/ |website=kingoscar.com |access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=December 2024}}

==Industry==
Kippers produced in the [[Isle of Man]] are exported around the world.<ref name = "BBC-1">{{cite web | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/isleofman/content/articles/2005/10/07/kippers_feature.shtml | title = Isle of Man |  publisher = [[BBC]]  | access-date = 9 May 2012}}</ref> Thousands are produced annually in the town of [[Peel, Isle of Man|Peel]], where two kipper houses, Moore's Kipper Yard (founded 1882)<ref name = "BBC-1" /> and Devereau and Son (founded 1884),<ref name = "BBC-1" /> smoke and export [[herring]].{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

[[Mallaig]], once the busiest herring port in Europe,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mallaigheritage.org.uk/exhibit/mallaig.htm |title=Mallaig and its story |publisher=Mallaig Heritage Centre |access-date=9 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704112754/http://www.mallaigheritage.org.uk/exhibit/mallaig.htm |archive-date= 4 July 2008 }}</ref> is famous for its traditionally smoked kippers, as are [[Stornoway]] kippers and [[Loch Fyne]] kippers. The harbour village of [[Craster]] in [[Northumberland]] is famed for [[Craster kipper]]s, which are prepared in a local smokehouse, sold in the village shop and exported around the world.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

==Related terms==
The [[Manx language|Manx]] word for kipper is {{lang|gv|skeddan jiarg}}, literally  ''red herring''; the Irish term is ''scadán dearg'' with the same meaning.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

''Kipper time'' is the season in which fishing for salmon in the [[River Thames]] in the United Kingdom is forbidden by an [[Act of Parliament]]; this period was originally the period 3 May to 6 January but has changed since.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kippers |url=https://www.fao.org/4/x5925e/x5925e01.htm |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=www.fao.org}}</ref> ''Kipper season'' refers (particularly among fairground workers, market workers, taxi drivers and the like) to any lean period in trade, particularly the first three or four months of the year.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

Members of the Canadian military referred to English people as ''kippers'' because they were believed to frequently eat kippers for breakfast.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Langeste |first=Tom |title=Words on the wing: slang, aphorisms, catchphrases and jargon of Canadian military aviation since 1914 |publisher=Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies |year=1995 |isbn=0919769535 |pages=161}}</ref>

The English (UK) [[idiom]] [to be] "stitched (or "done") up like a kipper" is commonly used to describe a situation where a person has (depending on context) been "fitted up" or "framed"; "used", unfairly treated or betrayed; or cheated out of something, with no possibility of correcting the "wrong" done.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

In the children's books ''[[The Railway Series]]'', and in the television show ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends]]'', The Flying Kipper is a nickname for a fast fish train usually pulled by Henry the Green Engine.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

The [[United States Department of Agriculture]] defines "Kippered Beef" as a cured dry product similar to beef jerky but not as dry.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/import/Labeling-Policy-Book.pdf|title=Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, Aug 2005 |publisher=USDA |access-date=25 July 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Food}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Fish preservation]]
* [[Herring as food]]
* [[Kipper tie]]
* [[List of dried foods]]
* [[List of smoked foods]]
* [[Red herring]], a term for an irrelevant distraction
* [[Smoked fish]]
* [[Solomon Gundy]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Bannerman, A. McK. (2001) [http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5925e/x5925e00.htm Kippers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228005357/http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5925e/x5925e00.htm |date=28 December 2018 }} ''Torry Advisory Note No. 48'', FAO, Rome.
* {{cite news |last1=Turns |first1=Anna |title=Comeback kipper: the fall and rise of Britain's favourite breakfast fish |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/04/comeback-kipper-fall-rise-britains-favourite-breakfast-fish |access-date=29 December 2023 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=4 November 2023}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/herring.htm "The lure of red herring"], history of smoked fish varieties.
* [http://www.iomguide.com/kippers.php Isle of Man Kipper Museum]
* [http://ssa.nls.uk/search.cfm?search_term=kipper&search_fields=0&search_join_type=AND&search_fuzzy=yes&subject=&location=&personality=&genre=&series=&fiction=&colour=&sound=&year_from=&year_to=&decade=&videos_only=1&search_mode=Advanced&submit=Search+%3E%3E%3E National Library of Scotland: SCOTTISH SCREEN ARCHIVE] (archive films relating to the production of kippers)
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210323175849/http://www.ukfoodguide.net/e154.htm E154 Brown FK]}}
*[https://www.theguardian.com/weekend/story/0,,1987905,00.html Source it - Guardian life and style article about kippers]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/07/food-kippers-smoked-fish-sales-revival Kippers, the breakfast dish that fell out of favour, are back on British menus] ''The Guardian'', 7 April 2012.
* [https://www.herripedia.com/kippers/ Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring: Kippers] 	

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{{herrings |state = expanded }}
{{seafood}}
{{dried fish}}
{{English cuisine}}
{{Scottish cuisine}} 


[[Category:Japanese cuisine]]
[[Category:Dried fish]]
[[Category:Food preservation]]
[[Category:Fish processing]]
[[Category:Manx cuisine]]
[[Category:Oily fish]]
[[Category:Smoked fish]]
[[Category:Animal-based seafood]]
[[Category:British fish dishes]]
[[Category:Breakfast]]
[[Category:Irish cuisine]]
[[Category:North American cuisine]]