What are you eating?" said my friend,
entering the kitchen this morning. My mouth was full, and I didn't realize she
had woken up yet. I felt a slight tinge of embarrassment, as if I had been
caught with my hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Except that it wasn't a jar
full of cookies—it was a jar full of pickled herring. "Ew," was my friend's reaction, and
needless to say, she abstained from sharing my breakfast with me. After all,
who wouldn't think pickled herring deserved an ew at 7:15 in
the morning?
Well, Scandinavians, for one, for whom
pickled herring is a breakfast staple. Is it a coincidence that Scandinavian
countries consistently rank among the top places to live in quality-of-life
surveys? I think not; the benefits of eating fish on a regular basis are well
known (and are also said to outweigh the potential risks that are commonly
associated with eating too much fish, according to
two major federally funded reports). But putting the health
hooey aside, the more important fact is that fish is just plain good for
breakfast. Even if pickled herring isn't your thing (it's perfect on
whole-grain toast, by the way), there are a ton of amazing options that often
go overlooked. Lox and whitefish salad, for example, are not only delicious but
also ready-to-eat, which is important to those of us who are rushed in the
morning. If you have more time, go all out and substitute some creamy, salty
brandade
for the Canadian bacon in eggs Benedict (many French claim that this is
actually the original version of eggs Benedict, but that debate is better saved
for another blog post). As my friend poured herself a bowl of Crunchberries, I
couldn't help but wonder if Cap'N Crunch, seafaring man that he is, might
prefer some smoked salmon, folded into soft scrambled eggs, to those
fluorescent, spherical sugar bombs that he peddles to America's youth. Just
look at those things.
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