A Celebration of the Craster Kipper

We’ve just returned from a glorious week in Northumberland, famed for its beaches, castles and kippers. So here’s the score on the best places to buy and eat the legendary Northumbrian kipper.

A kipper is a whole herring that has been sliced in half from head to tail, gutted, brined, then smoked – a process known as “kippering”. The herring is a sustainable and healthy oily fish, high in Omega 3, so good news there. The downside is that kippers have lots of tiny bones, which make them fiddly to eat, and kipper burps are a given.

L. Robson & Sons

Home of the Craster Kipper. Situated in Craster, a small fishing village on the Northumberland coast, overlooking the picturesque little harbour, L. Robson & Sons still traditionally cure fish in the original smokehouses, which are over 130 years old.

Follow your nose; the scent of wood smoke drifts from the buildings in the center of the village where the famous Silver darlings (Atlantic herring) are expertly transformed to legendary kipper status by the fourth generation of the Robson family.

These kippers are a world away from the bright orange, processed, boil in the bag things, topped with a flower shaped pat of butter, that I knew as a kid. Often acclaimed as the best kipper in Britain, Craster kippers are naturally coloured, the skins tanned golden by the oak smoke and the flesh has a distinctive reddish-brown colour; they are succulent, deliciously smokey and world class.

Directly next door to the smokehouse, the shop is open daily for you to take your smoked beauties home.

Their Craster Restaurant is also on the smokehouse premises and overlooks the harbour, but it didn’t appear to to be open at all during our recent visit.

L. Robson and Sons Ltd, Haven Hill, Craster, Northumberland, NE66 3TR
Their products are available for mail order online https://www.kipper.co.uk

Swallow Fish

In Seahouses visit Swallow Fish in The Fisherman’s Kitchen, housing the village’s original smokery, established in 1843. Owner Patrick Wilkin, one of Rick Stein’s ‘food heroes’ (remember that?), produces award-winning Northumbrian kippers, using oak sawdust and no colouring.

The Ship Inn

It has to be one of the most iconic and scenic walks in the UK; Craster to Low Newton, via the mighty ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle and sweeping Embleton Sands.

It’s a 6 mile round trip and The Ship Inn at Low Newton makes the perfect half way pit-stop. In an impossibly picturesque setting right next to the beach, Low Newton’s quaint village square is surrounded on three sides by white-washed cottages, built in the 19th century for local fishermen, with the historic pub nestled in the corner. We enjoyed a lovely lunch on the green; the girl and I both opted for the kipper pate, which was perfect with a pint of one of their own brewed beers.

We then returned to Craster through the Newton Pool nature reserve (the bird hides are currently closed) and over the dunes. A fantastic lunch and one of the best foodie-inspired coastal walks around.

Pipers Pitch

Home of the renowned Craster Kipper in a Bun, Pipers Pitch can be found in a cabin by the entrance to the main quarry carpark in Craster. A couple of perfectly cooked, moist kipper fillets are presented in a soft bread bun; delicious at any time of the day but it makes for a particularly fine breakfast!

Here you will also find the “world famous” Auchtermuchty – that is, haggis and bacon stuffed into a bun, served with or without hot chilli sauce. It comes highly recommend by the girl and she enjoyed chatting to the friendly owner who explained the origins of the name – apparently Auchtermuchty is a town in Fife, Scotland, home of The Proclaimers and a royal burgh, until 1975 when the status was removed due to the opening of a CO-OP!

Anyway, the Craster Kipper in a Bun is genius and a gourmet experience not to be missed.

Cook them yourself!

Kippers can be grilled, baked in foil, fried, jugged (placed in a pot, covered with boiling water and left for five minutes), microwaved or even barbecued and benefit from lashings of butter and a spritz of lemon. They also make excellent quiche, chowder and pate. The only warning is that if you cook them in your own kitchen (or someone else’s) they will stink out the whole house. It’s a small price to pay though.

Our holiday home for the week was the Old Ale House in Dunstan, just outside Craster. Managed by Coastal Retreats, whose hand-picked portfolio of design-led and individually styled Northumbrian holiday cottages are always top quality, The Old Ale House was no exception. We really loved this comfortable, beautiful and characterful cottage.

On our return home, inspired by the quirky recipe transcribed on the kitchen wall, we made the “Old Ale House scrummy Kipper Pate” from the kippers we’d purchased in Craster.

I can confirm that it was absolutely scrummy and perfect served with oatcakes or on toast. A quintessential taste of Northumberland to remind us of our trip.