Kippers are a great tradition in the UK, as far as I am concerned there is no tastier breakfast!

I think that many people are put off by the smell created by cooking or by the fact that being Herrings, there are bones.

Well, I can say that the cooking smell can be overcome by ‘jugging’ them rather grilling or frying. The bones, well…fish have bones and there are some tiny fine bones that if eaten carefully can be largely avoided. For a decent kipper, it really is worth it, and my personal favourite are Manx kippers – those from the Isle of Man.

Rocket loves the Isle of Man for other reasons, from his days of going to the Isle of Man TT and racing his motorbike around those famous roads….which is how he came by his particular alias…

These beautiful specimens have little similarity, by the way, to the orange dyed, vacuum packed version commonly found in the supermarket. Instead a good pair of kippers will have a delicious and delicate flavor, not too salty and wonderfully moist.

There are a variety of places in the UK producing fantastic quality kippers, especially in Scotland and so if you see these rather odd looking golden fish for sale – give them a go, they are part of a great tradition in this country.

To jug the kippers really means to place them upright in a jug of water, however immersing them lying down in a dish is just as well – you just place them whole in a dish and cover them in boiling water then leave them for about 5/6 minutes.

We devoured for our weekend breakfast, along with some oven roast tomatoes, the last from our veg patch for this year, some sour dough toast and plenty of enthusiasm, mmm’s and ahhhh’s!