If you’re not from Newfoundland, you’ve probably never heard of capelin. It’s a northern ocean fish, sort of like a sardine in size and look.
Capelin’s a big deal here. From an ecosystem standpoint, it’s food for cod and for many other large fish and whales. The health of the capelin stocks is very important to the health of the overall fishery. From a cultural standpoint, its arrival on Newfoundland shores is one of the highlights of the year. They have a unique way of letting people know that they’re here – they swarm beaches to spawn in late June/early July. And they don’t just do it one at a time. They come in schools of thousands and thousands, all over the island. Newfoundlanders say that the capelin are rolling, because the water at the shoreline looks like it’s at a rolling boil. People go to the capelin beaches both to watch this amazing display of fishy determination to reproduce, and to catch capelin for food and compost. Catching them is as easy as standing on the shore and throwing in a net, or dipping in a bucket. It hardly seems fair, in a way, but it’s a tradition that harkens back to a time when capelin were an important food source, and it has survived to the present.
We didn’t see the capelin rolling this year – we’re still a bit new and so didn’t get the memo. But a friend of a friend caught a pile of capelin and asked us if we would like some. Of course, we said yes, and so she dropped off about 20-30 capelin the next morning, ready to be cleaned and cooked. Les is the resident fish expert, and so he removed the heads and innards, and decided that we would bread and fry the capelin.
I was a bit hesitant about eating them. I’m not a fan of sardines, and I don’t like to feel fish bones in my mouth, even when they’re small. But of course, I was willing to try them. And I was pleasantly surprised. The flavour is very mild, and the bones are not noticeable at all. I enjoyed them, and it was a real thrill to participate in such a common local tradition.
Next year, we’ll catch our own, for sure. By then, we’ll be on the capelin memo distribution list!
Wow, Newfoundland is an amazing place. You are learning many new skills as well as another language!
Love your posts.
Peggy