It is not my job here to praise the kipper. Others do that, no doubt, far more well than I. Nor is any culinary assitance forthcoming. It probably tells you on the packet how to cook them.

Nay, my motivation for this missive is in a much more plebian task: cleanup. In other words how to get rid of that fishy smell. Since this works with kippers it'll probably work with any fish that smells less than a kipper. This is pretty much everything.

Now, there's two areas you need to clean: the pan you cooked the kippers in, and the air. First wash the pan in hot soapy water. If you used your good seasoned cast iron frying pan, tough, bet you won't do that again. Or quit whining, it'll season the next time you use it, which is now. Stick a burner on high and stick the frying pan on it. Notice than no matter how much you washed it and no matter how much soap you used the frying pan still smells like kippers. And as the ditty goes "all the soap this side of hell, won't wash away that fishy smell". Ahem.

Anyway put a bit of butter in the pan then use a thumbnail sized piece of fresh ginger that you've crushed then cut open and smear buttery ginger all over the inside of the pan. When you're done that a) it won't smell like kippers any more and b) turn the stove off. Now sprinkle in a fair bit of powdered cinnamon . Mix it up. You're done.

Ginger takes away fish odour, which is why the pan smells clean and some ginger goes into the air to kill the fish smell, the rest is masked by the cinnamon for about a day and by then you cant smell either fish or spice.

Incidentally putting some cinnamon on the stove like this also stimulates appetites. Handy for picky kids. The smell of cooking kippers usually has the opposite effect of course.

There's a few kipper recipes here. I haven't tried any of them.

RJS - Nov 07.