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There was a time when the Brits had a penchant for kippers for breakfast, kippers being smoked herrings. They also ate soused herrings. Nowadays, all I could find in Sainsburys was a Scandinavian/German-style ‘rollmops’, a small single sad-looking fillet curled up in a plastic container, for nigh on £4. 

In Finland, where they know their herrings, they have over a hundred recipes and since 1743 have held an annual Baltic Herring Market in Helsinki. 

Here in France, the best herring experience is to be enjoyed at Le Grand Colbert in Paris, in rue Vivienne near the Grand Palais. They don’t simply plonk down a plate with a couple of harengs pommes à l’huile on it. No, they bring you a socking great tureen full to the gunwales with loads of them, in an unctuous marinade of oil, carrot and onion rings.

You can refill your plate to your heart’s delight, together with plenty of pommes tièdes which similarly come in a huge tureen. With a glass of Chablis, it makes for an ace-value lunch in one of France’s iconic brasseries. 

You can do-it-yourself at home by buying a €2.38, 200g, 3–5 fillet pack of Delpierre branded ‘Filet de Hareng fumé au bois de hêtre’ (beechwood). 

Back in 1913, Jean-Baptiste Delpierre, with a large fleet of fishing vessels, set up his family business, that traces its history to 16th Century fishermen in the Boulogne-sur-Mer region. 

And herrings are good for you – rich in Vitamin D and omega-3s. 

‘Salut’ to Samphire

‘Halfway down hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!’. Thus spoke Edgar to Gloucester in Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’. That ‘dreadful trade’ is very much alive and kicking along the shores and marshes of the French Atlantic coast and Western Riviera. 

Samphire, originally ‘sampiere’, is named after Saint Pierre, the patron saint of fishermen. It is still hand-picked, growing wild in the Baie de Somme, but also cultivated in greenhouses. In July in Le Crotoy, near Abbeville, there’s an annual festival devoted to it.

You can eat it raw or steamed – only needs a couple of minutes. It’s delicious as a starter with fillets of smoked trout or with Noix de Saint Jacques, or better still pétoncles, the smaller scallops that are a tad subtler in flavour.

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