Herring are small, round, oily fish with creamy colored flesh of distinctive flavour, generally sold whole. They are suitable for frying and grilling, also preserved by pickling and smoking. Kipper is the most popular variety of smoked herring, buckling is a lightly smoked, dry salted whole herring, and red herring is heavily smoked and highly salted.
Rollmops and bismarcks are boned herrings marinaded in spiced vinegar. Rollmops are rolled with chopped onions, gherkins and peppercorns. Bismarcks are flat fillets covered with finely sliced onion.