Matjes is young, lightly-cured Atlantic herring, eaten raw with onion and apple, the canonical North Sea catch on a Fischbroetchen or a cold plate with fried potatoes and gherkin; in Germany we have verified places to eat it in Hamburg. Start with where to eat Matjes in Hamburg.
Matjes · Hamburg
Matjes is young, lightly-cured Atlantic herring, eaten raw with onion and apple, the canonical North Sea catch on a Fischbroetchen or a cold plate with fried potatoes and gherkin.
Matjes-curing dates to 15th-century Dutch fishermen who developed the gibbing technique of removing only the gills and intestine, leaving the pancreas to cure the herring with its own enzymes. The Hamburg Fischmarkt has sold Matjes since 1703. The Matjes season runs June to August, when the herring is at its fattest pre-spawning; the first Matjes catch each year is celebrated at the Hamburg Fischmarkt with public tastings on the dock.
Where to eat in Hamburg:
- Bruecke 10
- Fishbar Originale Hamburger Fischbroetchen
- Fischmarkt Altona
- Old Commercial Room
Where to eat Matjes in Hamburg: the editor picks