Herring "Matias": manufacturer, reviews

Whoever once managed to try the Dutch herring "Matias", will never forget this tender taste. Imagine a shiny, silvery, small-sized fish with fragrant flesh, young, soft bones. Fatty, immature herring "Matias" smells of sea and salt. How to eat "Matias" in Holland, you'll learn a little later, but for now we'll figure out why it got that name.

Girl-herring "Matias"

The best Dutch herring is called "Matias", or "herring girl". The herring virgin did not have time to sweep the caviar before it was caught from the sea. Catch the herring "Matias" in late May. Opening of the herring season in Holland is very rapid. Races are organized between fishing vessels. The winner is the one who will bring the catch of the young herring first to the shore. Young herrings "Matias" bring an incredible profit. The first barrel is often sold for 50-60 thousand. But in the future, fresh virgin fish can be tried in season on any corner. In Amsterdam and other Dutch cities it is sold directly from the trays, and it costs a penny. Spread herring merchants with onions, chopped herbs, lightly salted cucumbers, olive oil. "Girl-herring" has an incredibly delicate taste and just melts in the mouth, like ice cream.

Salting "Matias"

Herring in Dutch ("Matias") has a special taste due to an old recipe, which is over five hundred years old. Of course, now the herring is cooked using modern technologies, but the basic techniques are preserved to this day. Everyone who tried "Matias" once, speaks of it with delight and the taste is remembered for ever.

Catch "Matias" strictly from May to July, when the fish have not yet begun the breeding season. At this time, caviar and milk are not yet developed, and the content of healthy fats reaches 15%.

The brine is made weak, so the herring is slightly salted, the taste is very soft and tender. In modern production it is allowed to produce "Matias" from frozen herring, but provided that it was stored at -20 degrees.

Before the salting process, fish are prepared in a special way: they completely remove the esophagus and gills, this is done through a cut in the throat. So the bitterness disappears. The pancreas and liver are left, they in the process of salting secrete enzymes, which give that same delicious aroma "Matias". Salt the fish in oak barrels. After salting from the bones separate. Herring "Matias" turns out to be silver outside, and inside is gently pinkish.

"Santa Bremor"

In our country, judging by the feedback, consumers are very popular with Santa-Bremor. They are the ones who produce close to the Dutch herring "Matias". The manufacturer produces high quality products, when compared with many fish processing plants. This is confirmed by the ratings of seafood lovers.

"Santa Bremor" is a Belarusian-German enterprise that produces many brands, including "Matias".

The enterprise was registered in Brest back in 1993 and initially engaged mainly in the import / export of fish on the territory of the republic. Alexander Moshensky, General Director of Santa Impex Brest, on one of his trips to a German supplier, Abellman, noted that the Germans have been producing and packaging herring fillets for many years in glass containers. This product in Europe is very popular.

Soon it was decided to start manufacturing herring in Belarus. Now there are such areas: herring, salmon, seafood, caviar, surimi.

The recognizable product logo is the image of a girl in a West European suit holding a fish in her hands. According to the reviews of the herring lovers, the company's logo is recognized everywhere and is the guarantor of the quality of the product.

Herring "Matias" ("Santa Bremor")

If in Western Europe preference is given mainly to pickled herring, then in Russia and Belarus they prefer a drum salted and spicy fish. Once in this form, it was supplied from Iceland, even exchanged in the USSR for the forest.

Before putting herring production on stream, the director of the enterprise took into account these circumstances. In 1998, a subsidiary in Brest started production of preserves. The supplier of raw materials was Abellman, they also borrowed production technologies. The difference was that the herring was planning not to marinate, but to salt. Vegetable oil was used instead of marinade. Having worked out the spice relations, the "Mathias" product line was invented by the technologists: fillet with spices, fillets with garlic, in olive oil and others.

Premium production was decided to be removed, that is, it was considered inexpedient to pack in expensive glass containers. The product began to be produced in polyethylene and plastic: the price at retail goes much lower. In addition, salted herring is much cheaper than pickled.

The launch of the Matias line did not require large investments. The population of this product - fillet of herring "Matias" - has become very popular. Once the main difficulty was to convince the consumer that the finished fillet is tastier and cheaper than a whole herring of barrels.

Now the Santa Bremor offices are open everywhere: in Kiev, Moscow, Chisinau. The company's products are a huge success - this is confirmed by customer feedback and high sales.

Herring holiday

Let's return to the history of "Matias". If America is famous for turkey, in Switzerland - cheese, in the Czech Republic - beer, then in Holland glorify herring. In the Middle Ages, whole feasts of NieuweHaring were held here in cases of large catches. Such a holiday can still be seen today, going to the fishing village of Scheveningen, on the outskirts of The Hague. In 2006, the barrel of the first herring "Matias" left here for 75 thousand euros. At the festival, the main dish is Dutch herring: a yeast roll with fatty fillet of herring "Matias" and onion. Herring on this day is eaten in incredible quantities. But here competitions for the speed of eating are not accepted here.

There are local people and their national hero. A guy named Beckley, who lived at the end of the 13th century in the fishing village of Beerfilet. Now it's a small town in Zealand's Flanders. As the story tells, this guy was the first who guessed to salt the young fish right on the ship. He cut out the gills from the herring and removed all the insides to get rid of the bitterness. Someone claims that this method was known much earlier, but this is not so important. The main thing is that for many centuries the fishermen have been harvesting it. Herring is the most affordable delicacy for residents of all estates, from the queen to the poor fisherman.

How to Eat a Fish

How to eat herring at the festival - a special story. It is not known who was the first to invent such a "Mathias". Perhaps the first were the fishermen, who, directly into the sea, extracted a salted herring from an oak barrel, deftly cut it and sent it directly to the mouth. This eating resembles a boa constrictor dinner, when he, without chewing, swallows a rabbit. Herring salted, cut on fillets, is eaten by locals in this way: a half of the fish takes the tail, and the person, having thrown back his head, simply drops the fillet into the throat. From the side it seems that the chewing process is practically absent. Such are the dreamers of the Dutch! Foreigners present at this holiday are very surprised by the process of eating herring, and if you believe the reviews about the holiday, rarely anyone can do it again.

Dishes

In addition, the herring is eaten on this day everywhere almost without garnish. In any cafe and even on the street with a tray you will be offered "Matias" as a snack on a roll with onions and seasonings. Some prefer boiled potatoes, chopped eggs, sweet onions, and on top gentle fillet "Matias", seasoned with wine vinegar. This is much closer to the Russian feast. Russian tourists say about the holiday of herring with delight, because we all know the taste of this fish.

Exquisite is considered a more modern dish - the herring "Matias" is served on a turret made of avocado, boiled eggs, chopped onions, ripe tomatoes. All this is seasoned with sour cream, dill, sprinkled with vinegar.