Établissements JC David Smoked Herring 🐟

Établissements J.C was founded in 1973, in the port area of Boulogne-sur-Mer and began salting and curing fish. The tender herring fillets are the first to have obtained the prestigious Label Rouge award.

SALTING

For centuries, fish has been salted and then dried with smoke to ensure optimal preservation; respecting the fish flesh and unaltered taste. To preserve the flavour of past traditions, fish is delicately salted before slowly curing in the swirling smoke emitted by the coresses, the traditional wood ovens, exclusive to Établissements J.C.

VERTICAL & SLOW SMOKING

The fish pass into the hands of the “Master-Smokers” who work carefully to combine oak logs and chips from the state-owned forests in the Boulogne-sur-Mer region, ensuring they keep the fire steady and slowly burning. Upstairs, the fish are slipped behind huge red wooden doors. To ensure a subtle smoking process which preserves the texture of the fish flesh, the “Masters-Smokers” take care to keep the traditional ovens at a temperature below 25 °C. The smoking takes a minimum of 16 hours and Établissements JC David are the only producers to guarantee coresse-based smoking for 100% of its cold smoked fish, thus ensuring that the preserved smoked flesh is as tender as the flesh.

MANUAL PACKING

Finely salted then smoked, our fish are ready to be meticulously prepared by the “filleters”. Each gesture is made to get the most out of the precious fillets of coastal herring. At the top of each fillet, a small hole in the tender herring flesh is evidence that the traditional vertical smoking method has been used. The skin is carefully removed to reveal the silvery hue of the fish, a sign of optimal smoking. The packers then gently wrap the fillets up in their traditional packaging: the ballotin.

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