Kippers are perfect for Sunday brunch. We smoke Scottish Herrings here in our Crouch End smoke house to produce these delicious Kippers. They can be grilled, or cooked in boiling water – either way they do no take long as they are already cooked by the smoking process and just need to be heated through. Kippers have a long history and were very popular in Victorian and Edwardian times for breakfast.
Crouch End Smoke House
The Kippers sold through our shops are smoked in the century old smoke house at the rear of the Crouch End Shop. In fact it is the oldest working fish smokehouse in London using nothing but natural wood (with no chemicals added). We cure using traditional skills and recipes that have been handed down through the Purkis family for at least six generations. What you see on our counters are truly local food products.
Our Kippers are undyed so have a beautiful silvery gold colour and a rich smoky aroma. All fish (and meat) tastes better cooked on the bone, and kippers follow that rule. Grilling is probably the best way to cook them and they can be particulary good cooked on a barbecue
Grilled kippers
- Pre-heat your grill.
- A good tip here is to line the grill pan with foil (this will prevent any fishy smells haunting the pan in the future)
- Use some butter to grease the foil and stop the fish from sticking.
- Lay the fish on the foil, skin side uppermost. If you prefer you can use a pair of scissors to remove the heads and tails from the kippers before cooking.
- Grill them for 1 minute, turn them over so they are skinside down. Brush on or dab on some more butter on the kippers and grill for a further 4-5 minutes until the butter is sizzling.
- Serve right away with some brown bread and butter and a quartered lemon to squeeze over them. You might like to try them with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
