Glückstädter Matjes

Appearance & taste

The fillets have an oily sheen and are light grey-brown. On the upper side the skin gives them a silvery pattern; the underside is reddish from maturing on the bone. Depending on the size of the herring, they weigh 30 to 50 g and are 14 to 17 cm long. They are soft and tender to the bite without being mushy, and taste aromatically of matjes, of cold, fresh and not raw fish with a mild note of salt. According to the specification, Glückstädter Matjes differs from industrially produced matjes in taste and consistency.

It is mostly sold as fillets, fresh and chilled; fishmongers and restaurateurs also buy it unfilleted. The fillets are usually eaten cold, in a bread roll, on dark rye bread or as a plated dish with side dishes and sauces.

Production

According to the specification, the herring are usually caught in the central and northern North Sea. Catches from the end of May to the beginning of July are selected, when the fish are already fat enough and do not yet show any recognisable start of milt or roe. The herring are deep-frozen ungutted directly after the catch and are thus ready for processing until the next fishing season.

After thawing, the herring are gutted while the gills or head are removed in such a way that the enzyme-containing parts of the pancreas around the gut and pyloric caeca remain in the fish. Packed in barrels with only salt, they mature on the bone into matjes with their own enzymes. The fillets are then skinned by hand, the bones pulled out by hand and the fillets trimmed by hand. No machines or aids for maturing, colouring, flavouring or preservation are used. Cutting, maturing and further processing into fillets take place in Glückstadt.

Origin & history

Glückstadt is a port town on the Lower Elbe in Schleswig-Holstein. According to the specification, the tradition began in 1893 with the founding of the Glückstädter Heringsfischerei. On 15 July 1894, after an eight-week fishing trip, its first lugger, the “Tümmler”, landed matjes in Glückstadt for the first time, with 150 Kantjes, barrels for salting herring. On 21 June 1957, at the “Matjestag” of the German herring fishery in Glückstadt, Federal President Theodor Heuss received a small barrel of Glückstädter Matjes.

Since 1968, the “Glückstädter Matjeswochen”, a four-day folk festival centred on matjes, have been held every June; they were started by the then mayor Manfred Bruhn. The festival attracts visitors from Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and other parts of Germany; its recipe competitions have produced many dishes with matjes. It is sold mainly in shops in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Lower Saxony and by mail order all year round. According to the specification, a consumer survey from 2008 confirmed how well known and highly regarded it is.