Holland Herring Festival: Time to Fancy These Fleeting Filets

Herring lovers can't wait to for their calendars to flip to June, for that's when the very best, the "nieuwe maatjes" arrive on ice on flights from Amsterdam to New York. Like fiddleheads and fresh-picked morels, these tender young herring are a both a sign, and for many, a beloved rite of spring. And a fleeting one, as this North Sea delicacy comes and goes in a fortnight or so.

Aquavit holds an annual Herring Week (this year June 15 to 21). Russ & Daughters is this year paying homage to New Catch Holland Herring with a herring and aquavit festival on June 17th at the Roger Smith Hotel. But the epicenter of herring hullabaloo is the Grand Central Oyster Bar and Restaurant, whose Holland Herring Festival dates to 1974, and where the annual reappearance of the colorful herring cart is as anticipated as the call of "Play Ball" on opening day.

Here, you'll find the barely brined fish served two traditional ways. You can sample it in bite-sized pieces in a sour cream based salad with diced beets, Granny Smith apple, dill pickle, potato onion and chopped walnuts. That's the tame way. True aficionados partake of their Dutch "sashimi" as tail-on, seven-inch long, butterflied filets. Here, they come two to a small plate, accompanied by small piles of chopped egg, minced sweet onion and chives.

And the plates come often at the right hand side of the bar against the wall, where Jurren (Jay) Schoonbeek warms his customary opening day barstool. On hand for the first day of Herring Fest for the last 15 years, Schoonbeek, a recently retired finance officer for a multinational oilfield services company, proclaims this year's catch especially "juicy and tender" after a sip of Genever gin, a traditional palate cleanser. When he commuted to Manhattan, Schoonbeek rarely missed a day of Herring Fest. His single season record: 126 herring. When numbers seven and eight are set before him he says, as if in blessing: "Give us today our daily herrings."

Even Schoonbeek, who was born in Groningen, Holland, employs a knife and fork —probably sound advice for seated diners. But no one will mind if you make like a hardcore herring lover in The Netherlands, and, assuming a bit of a forward-leaning stance, grab one by the tail, dip it the trio of garnishes, and then, eyes skyward —to the Oyster Bar's famous, vaulted tiled ceiling —lower it into your mouth. Three or four bites later, repeat with herring number two. But good luck matching Schoobeek herring for herring.

Aquavit
65 E. 55th St near Madison
New York, NY 10022
212-307-7311

Russ & Daughters
179 E Houston St
(between 2nd Ave and Chrystie St)
New York, NY 10002
212-475-4880

Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Ave
(between 47th St and 48th St)
New York, NY 10017
212-755-1400

Grand Central Oyster Bar and Restaurant
89 E. 42nd St, at Vanderbilt Ave
New York, NY 10017
212-490-6650

— Written by John Grossmann

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