Haddock pickle (it begins with an H…). The recipe says cod, but I’ve also made it with herring and ling, coley, hake or gurnard would be fine too. From Harvey Day’s Complete Book of Curries, it’s an absolute cracker! Boxing Day sorted. How long does it keep? Never had to find out.

And the supermarket shelves shall be full of gwamegi! Lovers of semi-dried herring salute our Labour government for its historic trade deal with South Korea!

They’re not actually kippers. Or even herrings. But let each competitor take their cardboard bat, each creating the airflow to waft their fish forward in a space big enough for a race… Flipping the Kipper! The game which could yet save Christmas!

🐟 'Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring' is ‘A prodigious achievement, by turns erudite and great fun' @thespectator1828.bsky.social. It's out of stock with some retailers, but you can grab your copy at 50% off until midnight tonight directly from us ➡️ tinyurl.com/59kj4xxe

The Spectator: ‘a prodigious achievement, by turns erudite and great fun.’ I particularly like David Profumo’s ‘encyclupeidae’ and his ‘farctate with glistening details’ takes me happily back over 60yrs to excellent maths teacher Albert Knight’s school report comment, ‘loquacious, but inefficient.’

Today (Black Friday) to Mon 9th Dec all Hurst books from their website: 1/2 price + postage! Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring will only cost you £16.49. And there are lots more great titles too! www.hurstpublishers.com/book/rigbys-...

Great review of Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring in The Skipper!

Readings from Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herrings (@hurstpublishers.bsky.social) HERE, Clovelly Herring Festival, tomorrow afternoon (no rain forecast.

Box o’ books in the back o’ the car; phone now a card reader… Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring @hurstpublishers.bsky.social perfect present for anyone who likes herring; necessary one for those who don’t! Off to Clovelly Herring Festival in the morning. Stop me and buy one!

Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring on Tour! In striking distance of North Devon? This Sunday at 1.30 I’ll be reading stuff at Clovelly Herring Festival (picarooner territory - see Herring Boats). Also looking forward to trying a Mike Smylie Kipper. Thanks Jess @hurstpublishers.bsky.social.

@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social has just put up a podcast interview by the excellent Miranda Melcher on Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring (@HurstPublishers all good bookshops etc). Can a man talk for an hour just about herring? Well, basically… yes. newbooksnetwork.com/rigbys-encyc...

Book launch herring snacks: No 1, The Pie. Modelled on ones sent annually to kings & queens, Edward I to George III, based on complaints by Charles I; See Past(r)y. Raised crust, herrings, Parisian spice, orange zest, butter.

First of the tart fillings in production for the launch of Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring (available from all food bookshops) - based on a Trinidadian dumpling filling, it brings together red herring, Scotch bonnet, red pepper & chadon beni. Mmmmh hmmmh!

🐟🐟🐟Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring is out now! Congratulations @rigbysherrings.bsky.social!🐟🐟🐟 ‘This book is nothing short of a delight.’ — Richard Corrigan 🎣25% off w/code HERRING25➡️ tinyurl.com/4mdunzn4

Smells great and looks great! Hurrah! Out on Oct 2nd. Huge thanks to @HurstPublishers

‘Who can tell from whence these tall Okes came?’ (Thomas Heywood, praising the oaks in Charles I’s flagship). Chopwell bloody Woods, Tommy - never the same since (Sovereignty of the Seas, Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring, out soon). Reparations for a king’s hubris.

Books with sexual content are removed from some US libraries… Sadly, there’s explicit material in Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring (out from @HurstPublishers on Oct 2), most egregiously a photo of sea turned milky with clouds of sperm… AI lists the similarities to human.

Gosh! 25% off @Waterstones already and it isn’t even out yet! #WPreorder But you must order by 23.59, Thu 31 Jul and, having clicked on Add Promotion Code in the Checkout, enter SUMMER25 - someone up there wants you to know more about herrings! www.waterstones.com/book/rigbys-...

The Spaniard has his chorizo, the Scotch woodcock his anchovy, give me my scrambled egg with kipper!

Such things as dreams are made on #37: kipper pitta with hummus, herb-marinated aubergine, lemon juice, lettuce & yoghurt.

Book’s out 25th Sept and there’s a launch at Newcastle’s Lit & Phil, Thu 9th Oct, 7.30pm (free, but book: bit.ly/4lesXoU). There will be herring snacks.

In the long struggle for control of Yarmouth’s herring fair, the Cinque Ports’ shield said, ‘Your 3 lions are backed by our ships.’ Yarmouth’s said, ‘Herring tails - that’s where the money comes from. In the long struggle… Yarmouth won.

Only 4 to go until St John’s Day, when the Dutch fleet would gather for the start of the herring season off the Shetlands. A little invention is always needed to see you through the dark months.

Warmer waters means smaller clupeids. This little herring once swam in proto-Morocco, in the Sea of Tethys between Laurasia & Gondwanaland, between 90 & 100 million years ago.

Tip top herrings @laingartgallery by Ruskin Spear father of the Bonzo’s Roger Ruskin Spear. #herrings #herripedia #fishart

Dual use barrel: herrings on top; revolutionary propaganda below. How close did Norway come to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Finnmark? We may never know.

Vorsprung durch the old fictions! You have to go a long way to find a herring T shirt espousing the Grand Migration Theory the great Marcus Elieser Bloch thought he’d put to bed back in 1783. Well, all right, you can get them online.

But how will they know what’s in the pasties?

Ah! The Presents from Yarmouth which filled the kists of the herring lasses returning to Scotland at the end of the season! A fine display at Buckie & District Fishing Heritage Centre.

Roter heringssalat - not red herring salad but red herring salad. It’s the way you tell ‘em. #fishdishes #eatmoreherrings

#marinescience people out there. Working on edits for my herring encyclopaedia and checking the World Register of Marine Species and it looks like the Pacific Herring has been reclassified as a subspecies of the Atlantic. I’ve argued for it, but… Can anyone clarify?

Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring: The Easter Bonnet Edition. The hardback edition, from @HurstPublishers, is out in September.

Went with @thistoomustpass to North Shields Fish Quay to meet a Mr Ellis, 83 & still working. He handed me an envelope with the tattered pages of a Picture Post advertorial booklet from the 50s, produced for Shields canners Tyne Brand & photographer by Felix H Man (Hans Bauman).

Buckling (hot-smoked herring) & lemon zest tart with a walnut & pecorino topping. Mmmmh!

Sol over Gudhjem (sun on Gudhjem) - buckling with a raw egg yolk. Fond memories of eating this in Gudhjem on the island of Bornholm on a Baltic holiday many years ago.

Cooking photos for Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring, which @HurstPublishers bring out in September. Red herring & Scotch bonnet stir fry stuffed dumplings in a stir fry. Great Trinidadian dish by way of slave plantation provisioning. The triumph of herring over context.

Today we drink to the serving maid, when the tricky wee bastard Mannan served him poisoned herrings. ‘Musha,’ she sang, ‘my seven loves to the fish that was never caught for his appetite…’ and, sure, only through the grace of God did Patrick understand what she was on about. #StPatricksDay

A visionary, civic magician & extraordinary man died yesterday. He loved soft herring roes on toast. This is Stuffed Herring John Fox: crisp fried roe, herring caviar, almonds, shallot, parsley & lemon. To John, a great man, full of love, imagination & humour! Hurrah for you!

Some good books coming in September…

Fancy stepping into the world of #NightClasses? Excellent @culturednortheast.bsky.social interview with Artistic Director, @annierigby.bsky.social gives you a glimpse into the show. We head to @gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk and 17Nineteen THIS WEEK! www.culturednortheast.co.uk/p/night-clas...

Just set up on Bluesky. My stuff is pretty much focused on herrings as the name suggests. Rigbys Encyclopaedia of the Herrings is being published in September by @hurstpublishers.bsky.social