If you like the herring that comes in jars, in wine or cream sauce, we’ve got something so much better for you: nieuwe maatjes herring.

Through Friday, July 3rd, New York City’s Grand Central Oyster Bar and Restaurant is celebrating the Holland Herring Festival.

For 35 years, this has been the first American tasting of the season of nieuwe maatjes haring, the wonderful Dutch herring.

Herring lovers wait all year for the delivery of the cream of the catch to the Oyster Bar. The herring arrives air-expressed from Scheveningen, The Netherlands, a town on the North Sea where the herring fleet makes its home.

This year, fans had to wait an extra week for the catch, due to stormy North Sea waters that made fishing difficult, and herring with very low fat content. An absence of adequate sunlight meant that there was not enough plankton for the herring feed on, so fishermen waited for conditions to change.

A dish of nieuwe maatjes herring fillets. Photo courtesy Takeaway | Wikipedia.

But arrive they finally did; the Oyster Bar began serving them yesterday. We were invited to taste them, and we’ll be going back this weekend for more! The catch is limited: Even in The Netherlands, the fish are only available for a month.

Succulent and toothsome delicacy known as nieuwe maatjes herring. At the Oyster Bar, Chef Sandy Ingber serves the herring filets with hard-boiled egg, chopped sweet onion and chives.

The herring filets are priced at $7.00; the herring with garnishes is $7.95 per order. You can walk in and enjoy yours in the bar area, or reserve a table at 212.490.6650.
 
WHAT IS MAATJES HERRING?

Nieuwe, pronounced NEE-wuh, means new in Dutch. Maatje, MAH-tyeh, means fermented or brined. The Dutch word for herring is haring.

After the herring is caught, it is brined* for up to two days, typically in oak barrels. Then, for delivery to the Oyster Bar, it is gutted and the head is removed, The result is a fillet, about five inches long, consisting of both sides of the fish, attached on the non-slit side.

 
*It is brined in salt water. Raw herring pickled in vinegar is called a rollmop.

Today is National Dry Martini Day (some say it’s World Martini Day—perhaps the international celebration).

We’re having a very dry Martini—just a splash of vermouth—with Pinnacle’s cucumber vodka. If you like cucumber, this article explores other ways to enjoy it. But first:

 
Pinnacle Vodka makes not only Cucumber Vodka* and Cucumber Watermelon Vodka, but 40+ other flavors from traditional (Berry, Cherry, Citrus, Mango, Pomegranate) to fanciful (Caramel Apple, Cinnabon, Rainbow Sherbet, Strawberry Shortcake, Whipped Cream). You can find all of the flavors at PinnacleVodka.com.
 
*Cucumber vodka is also made by Crop, Effen, Prairie, Rain, Square One and other brands.

Vodka infused with fresh cucumber flavor. Photo courtesy Pinnacle.

Cucumber & Cocktails

Cucumber is mild enough to pair with both sweet and savory cocktails. If you traditionally use a lemon or lime wedge and people don’t squeeze the juice into their drinks (that’s the purpose of the wedge), try a a cucumber wheel on the rim. It provides a crunchy snack on the glass!

Ideally, use a Kirby or other seedless cucumber.

A cucumber garnish also works well with club soda, lemon-lime sodas (Seven-Up, Sprite) and lemonade; not to mention vegetable juices and some fruit juices.

By the same token, these beverages are good cocktail mixers with cucumber vodka.

 
Cucumber & Water

Hint sells an unsweetened cucumber water, but it’s easy to make your own.

The addition of a slice of cucumber and an herb sprig turns a plain glass of water into a special drink. You can layer on flavors as you like: a slice of apple, lemon, lime, orange or a strawberry, for example.

In fact, a great pitcher of water idea is to load up the pitcher with lots of berries; apple, citrus and cucumber slices—anything that suits your fancy: Kiwi? Mango? Melon? Peach? Pineapple? (NOTE: bananas didn’t work for us).

Interspersed with ice cubes, the pieces of fruit turn the pitcher of water into a work of art.

Here’s how to infuse water.

Want some fizz? Look for Dry Sparkling’s Cucumber, a sophisticated, lightly sweetened carbonated drink.

A Related Snack

Cucumbers and watermelons are first cousins. Both are from the binomial order Cucurbitales and family Cucurbitaceae, differing only at the genus level: Cucumis for cucumber (the common cucumber genus/species is C. sativus) and Citrullus for watermelon (C. lanatus).

That’s why you can eat the white portion of watermelon rind—it tastes just like cucumber—or turn it into pickled watermelon rind, a.k.a. watermelon pickles (here’s the recipe).

And that’s why watermelon and cucumber skewers are a tasty snack with any cucumber-enhanced beverage.

June 18th is International Sushi Day, and that gives us an idea for a Father’s Day gift (as well as for lunch).

If Dad likes sushi, how about a set of sushi knives for Father’s Day…and a copy of Sushi: The Beginner’s Guide?

Sushi chefs use different knives, and some are quite specialized:

 
There are also specialty knives for soba (soba kiri), udon (udon kiri), vegetables (nakiri bocho and usuba bocho) and perhaps the best-known to Westerners, the all-purpose Western-style knife, the santoku, used for fish, meat and vegetables (santoko means “three virtues”).

Sushi knives. Photo courtesy Good Cooking.

HOW TO START MAKING SUSHI AT HOME

The easiest sushi to make at home is chirashi sushi. Simply arrange the sliced ingredients on top of a bed of sushi rice.

The next step up the ladder to making sushi is to make rolls. The hardest is nigiri sushi, strips of fish on pads of rice. It takes a practice to form the pads of rice.

If you want to roll your own, here are tips from Chef Steven Ferdinand, Executive Chef of Culinary Operations at Haru Sushi Tips for perfectly rolling your own sushi include:

 
10 NON-TRADITIONAL INGREDIENTS TO COMBINE WITH RAW FISH

Sushi means “vinegar rice,” not “raw fish.” So as long as you use sushi rice, you can combine any ingredients, cooked or raw. The classic salmon skin roll is grilled, for example.

You can combine raw fish with cooked items like beef, chicken, fish, lamb, pork or tofu. Consider adding:

 
Last night we went fusion. For a first course we created a melon, prosciutto and salmon roll. Not conventional, but delicious. And fun!

You may see a proliferation of infused olive oils at the market. But you might want to infuse your own:

 
Here’s a tip from Sunbasket, a West Coast service that delivers the best foods from the best farms along with personalized, easy recipes.

Speaking of easy: Infused oils are easy to make. The technique we describe below takes only minutes, not weeks of infusing.

WHEN TO USE INFUSED OILS

Infused oils can add a rich, complex boost of flavor and aroma to nearly anything you prepare. We use them to:

Drizzle flavored olive oil on pasta, meat or fish. Photo courtesy Flavor-Your-Life.com.

WHAT FLAVORS TO INFUSE

Most of the oils in the market are infused with herbs, citrus or garlic. Basil and rosemary are the most popular herbs, but also consider using cilantro, dill, oregano, parsley or thyme.

For citrus: blood orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, mandarin or exotics (calamondin, kaffir lime).

For spices, just look on the spice shelf and find what piques your interest. How about chile, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, nutmeg or star anise?

For aromatics: garlic, ginger, lemongrass or scallions.

How about nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios or walnuts?

While many infused oils are made by soaking herbs in oil for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, a quick and easy infused oil can be make on the stove top in minutes.

Since you’re adding flavor, there’s no need to splurge on an expensive oil. If you’re infusing olive oil, use one that has mild flavor—not too peppery or fruity (unless you want those flavors in the final product). Or, pick a neutral cooking oil like canola (the different types of cooking oils).

 
Preparation
1. HEAT 1 cup of your favorite oil over very low heat in a sauté pan, skillet or nonstick pan.

2a. FOR HERBS: Add three sprigs of fresh herbs and a lightly smashed clove of garlic. Let the herbs cook in the pan until they’re just starting to brown, but not burn.

2c. FOR NUTS: Use nuts that are raw and unsalted. Cook until they’re just starting to brown.

Cooking any of these on the lowest heat possible will give the oil time to pull out the flavors while not burning.

3. COOL and strain the oil with a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Then funnel the oil into a glass bottle with a tight-fitting cap. Store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

4. REMOVE the oil from the fridge 20 minutes before using, to bring it to room temperature. Or, use it as soon as it’s made.
  

Americans get a different version than the one unveiled in Canada and the U.K. There, a long, continuous hot dog wrapped in crust surrounded the entire pizza (photo).

The hot dog was hidden in the crust, lessening the visual impact that America gets: a pizza perimeter of pigs in blankets.

The American hot dog pizza features an edge crust of 28 individual hot dog bites. It may be the first pizza ever to be served with a side of French’s mustard (the other versions had a mustard drizzle).

The company says it’s available “while supplies last,” for $11.99.

If you don’t know the location of the nearest Pizza Hut, check the store locator on the company website.

So: What’s for lunch tomorrow?