Kipper
A cold-smoked herring, historically a working-class breakfast staple.
A kipper is a small, oily fish—a whole herring—that has been split from tail to head along the back in a butterfly cut, gutted, salted or pickled, and then cold-smoked over smouldering wood chips, usually oak. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and parts of North America, kippers are most often eaten at breakfast. Before World War II, they were also a common high tea or supper dish across all social classes, not limited to any specific demographic.
The word "kipper" likely comes from the Old English *cypera*, meaning a salmon in the spawning season, or from Middle English *kipper* meaning a male salmon. The idea that it derives from a word for copper is a folk etymology. Other possible origins include the Icelandic *kippa* (to pull or snatch), the Germanic *kippen* (to tilt or incline), and the Middle English *kipe* (a basket for catching fish). Another theory links it to the *kip*, or small beak, that male salmon grow during breeding season. As a verb, "to kipper" means to preserve food by rubbing it with salt or spices and then drying it in open air or smoke. Originally used for surplus fish—especially those called "kips" caught during spawning runs—kippering now applies to any fish, poultry, beef, or other meat treated this way. The process often involves cleaning, filleting, butterflying, or slicing to expose more surface area to drying and preservatives.
Kippers, bloaters, and bucklings are all smoked herring, but they differ in preparation. Kippers are split, gutted, and cold-smoked. Bloaters are cold-smoked whole. Bucklings are hot-smoked whole.
The exact origin of the kipper is unknown, though the method of slitting, gutting, and smoke-curing fish is well documented. Mark Kurlansky notes that smoked foods often have accidental-creation stories—for example, a peasant hanging food too close to a fire and discovering the result the next morning. In 1599, Thomas Nashe wrote of a fisherman from Lothingland near Great Yarmouth who supposedly discovered the red herring (a heavily smoked herring) by accident, not the kipper specifically. Another widely accepted tale places the invention of the kipper in 1843, with John Woodger of Seahouses in Northumberland, who accidentally left gutted herring in a smokehouse overnight, resulting in the first kippers.
A kipper is sometimes called a red herring, though a truly red kipper requires especially strong curing.
- Type
- Preserved fish
- Main ingredient
- Herring (small, oily fish)
- Preparation
- Split, gutted, salted or pickled, cold-smoked
- Region
- United Kingdom, Ireland, North America
- Known for
- Breakfast dish; traditional smoking process
- Related terms
- Bloater, buckling, red herring
Lore & Background
The exact origin of the kipper is unknown, but the process of slitting, gutting, and smoke-curing fish is well documented. According to Mark Kurlansky, smoked foods often have legends of accidental creation, such as a peasant hanging food too close to the fire. Thomas Nashe wrote in 1599 about a fisherman from Lothingland in the Great Yarmouth area who discovered the red herring (a heavily smoked herring) by accident, not the kipper. Another widely accepted story sets the invention of the kipper in 1843, with John Woodger of Seahouses in Northumberland, who accidentally left gutted herring in a smokehouse overnight.
The word 'kipper' is thought to derive from the Old English 'cypera', meaning a salmon in the spawning season, or from Middle English 'kipper' meaning a male salmon. The colour-based etymology linking it to copper is a folk etymology. Other possible parallels include Icelandic 'kippa' (to pull or snatch) and Germanic 'kippen' (to tilt).
Reader's Guide
Kippers hold significance as a traditional preserved fish dish, particularly in the United Kingdom, where they were a staple breakfast and high tea item for working-class communities before World War II. The kipper is distinct from other smoked herring varieties: bloaters are cold-smoked whole, and bucklings are hot-smoked whole. The dyeing of kippers was introduced as an economy measure during the First World War, using a coal tar dye called brown FK (abbreviation for 'for kippers'), though today natural annatto dye is often used. Some producers, such as those on the Isle of Man and in Scotland, do not dye their kippers, instead extending the smoking time traditionally. Kippers must be cooked before eating unless they have been precooked, as in canned 'kipper snacks' sold in the United States. The industry remains active in places like the Isle of Man, Mallaig, Stornoway, Loch Fyne, and Craster in Northumberland, where traditionally smoked kippers are produced and exported worldwide. The term has also entered idioms, such as 'stitched up like a kipper' meaning framed or cheated, and 'kipper time' referring to a fishing ban on the River Thames.
Did You Know?
- A kipper is sometimes referred to as a red herring, though particularly strong curing is required to produce a truly red kipper.
- The term 'red herring' appears in a mid-13th century poem by Anglo-Norman poet Walter of Bibbesworth.
- European Community legislation limits the acceptable daily intake of Brown FK (kipper dye) to 0.15 mg/kg.
- The Manx term for red herring is 'skeddan jiarg'.
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