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Hollandse Nieuwe Herring

24 June 2015

World renowned for its cheese, clogs and liberal mentality, the Netherlands is also THE place for anyone who likes brined Herring.

The strong salty flavor combined with the buttery, high-fat content of this beautiful fish, creates an amazing taste that grabs you in the mouth and doesn’t let go (if you’re on a date, try some squeezed lemon).

From all the batches of the Herring, the first seasonal one - called “Hollandse Nieuwe” - is definitely the best.

The Hollandse Nieuwe has the highest fat content of all the other batches, this means it is also the most expensive. Just to show you how pricy it can get: every year, there is a special sale of the first barrel of Hollandse Nieuwe, exactly one week ago (17.6.15) the first barrel was sold for 53,000 Euro (all the money was donated to charity), and while it is indeed - a very high sum of money - it did not break the 95,000 Euro record.

Just to make sure we are on the same page - every barrel contains around 50 fish.

So if you are in the Netherlands between June and July, don’t miss an opportunity to taste an Hollandse Nieuwe - you won’t regret it.

Eet smakelijk (Bon Appetit in Dutch)!

by: Amit Rabin