Herring roe mystery solved! - 01/15/21
When I was growing up in Maryland, one of our favorite treats was eggs scrambled with canned herring roe, Tidewater brand to be specific. Cheap as dirt back then. At some point they disappeared from stores altogether, not sure exactly when, but about 20 years ago I found some up here at a Food Lion on clearance for a buck a can and bought the few they had. After that, nada.
Once in a while I’d pick up some sets of shad roe when I went to the Eastern Shore to visit my father or he’d bring some to me, but they’re pretty spendy and a pain to prepare for mixing in eggs, and really better enjoyed cooked whole in butter. Plus, I’ve never seen them locally, and grocery store “fresh” seafood is a crapshoot anyway.
For some reason I recalled the herring roe last night and started looking on duckduckgo. It seems that river herring have declined sharply and VA no longer allows them to be taken. Apparently the decline began about the time they introduced the monster blue catfish into the VA tidal rivers, but from what I read the connection isn’t solid. NC, on the other hand, still has a fishery for them, and the Tidewater brand was purchased, along with an old NC brand, and the new owner is selling under both names. The price has skyrocketed, and they ain’t poor-folks food any more, not even close. They’re sold online, and in some of those trendy “country stores” that are really down-home gourmet shops. Seems the annual output gets sold out pretty quickly now to folks who grew up on such stuff. Anyway, I bit the bullet and ordered a case at a price I don't care to discuss. WTF, my birthday is coming up.
While looking I also discovered that salted, dried fish roe is popular not only in Asia, but Yurrup as well. Generally it’s grated onto eggs and pasta, and also sliced thin as a snack like cheese. Amazon has that, so I might have to give it a try as well.
Once in a while I’d pick up some sets of shad roe when I went to the Eastern Shore to visit my father or he’d bring some to me, but they’re pretty spendy and a pain to prepare for mixing in eggs, and really better enjoyed cooked whole in butter. Plus, I’ve never seen them locally, and grocery store “fresh” seafood is a crapshoot anyway.
For some reason I recalled the herring roe last night and started looking on duckduckgo. It seems that river herring have declined sharply and VA no longer allows them to be taken. Apparently the decline began about the time they introduced the monster blue catfish into the VA tidal rivers, but from what I read the connection isn’t solid. NC, on the other hand, still has a fishery for them, and the Tidewater brand was purchased, along with an old NC brand, and the new owner is selling under both names. The price has skyrocketed, and they ain’t poor-folks food any more, not even close. They’re sold online, and in some of those trendy “country stores” that are really down-home gourmet shops. Seems the annual output gets sold out pretty quickly now to folks who grew up on such stuff. Anyway, I bit the bullet and ordered a case at a price I don't care to discuss. WTF, my birthday is coming up.
While looking I also discovered that salted, dried fish roe is popular not only in Asia, but Yurrup as well. Generally it’s grated onto eggs and pasta, and also sliced thin as a snack like cheese. Amazon has that, so I might have to give it a try as well.