Bornholmsk røget sild (smoked herring)

What it is

Bornholmsk røget sild is the taste of the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It is not a dish found on menus across all of Denmark, but a regional speciality tied to the island's own fishing history and its unique landscape. The herring are hot-smoked, traditionally over alder wood, until their skin turns a deep golden colour, a process that transforms the fish into something soft, fragrant and warm.

The smokehouses that make this dish are as distinctive as the food itself. Low whitewashed buildings with rows of tall, tapering chimneys once dotted the coast, built to support the island's 19th-century herring fishery. Many of these structures survive today, and around ten smokehouses still work on the island, often operating as a røgeri, a smokehouse that also sells its produce directly to visitors.

The smell of alder wood

The method is what makes it. Whole herring go onto racks in the smokehouse and are dried over the fire and then take thick smoke, a few hours in all — long enough to cook them through and no longer. Alder is the traditional wood, and it smokes sweet rather than bitter; many smokehouses now use modern ovens and other wood, which makes the open-chimney alder method worth seeking out.

Unlike cold-smoked fish which are cured without cooking, this herring is fully cooked by the heat of the smoke. The skin becomes golden and slightly crisp, while the flesh remains tender and moist. It is best eaten warm, ideally within an hour of coming out of the smokehouse, when the aroma is at its peak.

How it is eaten

At a røgeri there are long tables outside and the fish comes off the rack onto a paper plate. It is served whole, or filleted onto dark rye bread with a raw egg yolk set on top, chopped radish and chives — which is the island's other famous dish, Sol over Gudhjem, assembled from the same herring. Salt, and nothing else.

A cold lager is the usual drink with it, and a glass of akvavit, the caraway spirit, for anyone eating the fish straight off the rack. Both do the same job against the oil and the salt.

Curious facts

• The chimneys are landmarks. The tall, tapering smokehouse chimneys are the emblem of the island's coast; Gudhjem once had so many it was nicknamed the town of a hundred chimneys.
• Alder, traditionally. The classic wood is alder, which smokes sweeter and less harshly than beech, though beech and smoking ovens are now common.
• Best eaten warm. The dish is at its best when served warm, often within an hour of smoking, before the texture changes and the aroma fades.
• A regional speciality. Bornholmsk røget sild is not a nationwide Danish dish but a local tradition tied strictly to the island's herring fishery history.
• The yolk is raw. Laid whole on the fish and broken at the table, it is the island's standard accompaniment rather than a garnish.

Where to try it

A working røgeri on the island coast, of which Bornholm still has a number — low whitewashed buildings with a row of tapering chimneys, a counter at one end and long tables outside. Several occupy historic buildings, and most sell what they have smoked that day.

The practical advice is to arrive at lunchtime and to eat it there rather than carry it away: the fish is at its best within the hour, and a smokehouse that has sold out by two in the afternoon is the one to come back to.