Fish Stories

 
 
 

‘Fish stories’ have always been synonymous with far-fetched tales, but sometimes in food history, those fish stories turn out to be true. In this episode, we explore the unlikely story of a small fish with a big culinary impact: goldeye. We also explore the importance of pickled herring in preserving cultural traditions.

Episode Transcript


 

EPISODE CREDITS:

Written and narrated by Henry Vandenberg and Kent Davies

Produced by Kent Davies

Interview participants: Sonja Lundström, Mari Clovechok, Elaine Friesen, and Gunvor Larrson

Cooking demonstrations: James Rogowy and Kevin Funk

Hosted by Kent Davies and Janis Thiessen

Episode image: Smoked Goldeye by Mzajac

Theme music: Robert Kenning

INTERVIEWS

Sonja Lundström, Mari Clovechok, Elaine Friesen, and Gunvor Larrson. Interviewed by Sarah Story in Winnipeg, MB. Digital Audio Recording. Manitoba Food History Project, “Winnipeg Interviews,” Oral History Centre Archive, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB.

MUSIC

Lobo Loco – Searching for Wilderness, Forester, Old Land

Blue Dot Sessions – Paper Napkin, Threads and Veils

Kosta T- Uku for D.S., бабочка

Rosen Sisters - Hambo 

Carl Jularbos Kvartett -Möjavalsen

SOUND EFFECTS

Kintana24 – Sweden Wallas Restaurant

Owl – Uppsala-streetbusker-accordion

lx-70 – On a wooden ship at sea

SOURCES

Barr, Elinor. Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015.

Bodsworth, Fred. “That Glamorous Goldeye.” Macleans (September 1, 1950).

Cherney, Bruce. “Smoked Goldeye, a Dish Fit for a King.” Winnipeg Real Estate News (17 June 2016).

Cherney, Bruce, “Smoked Goldeye – A Lake Winnipeg Delicacy.” Interlake Spectator (August 8, 1984).

Drews, Nancy. “Gunvor Larsson – Winnipeg’s Swedish Matriarch,” Scandinavian Cultural Centre of Winnipeg, (2020).

Einarrson, Helgi. Helgi Einarsson: A Manitoba Fisherman. Winnipeg: Queenston House, 1982. Translated from the Icelandic by George Houser.

Etting, Vivian. “The great herring market in Scania.” In Queen Margrete I (1353-1412) and the Founding of the Nordic Union. Brill, 2004.

Foote, P. G. Olaus Magnus, A Description of the Northern Peoples, 1555. Volume III. Routledge, 2017.

Fredborg, Isabelle. “Easy Swedish pickled herring – and it’s long history,” Swedish Spoon (17 April 2020)

Henderson, Helene. The Swedish Table. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005.

Kurlansky, Mark. Salt: A World History. New York: Penguin, 2003.

Lantz, A. W., and D. G. Iredale. “Techniques in smoking goldeye: (Hiodon Alosoides).” Canadian Institute of Food Technology Journal 2, no. 4 (1969).

Lantz, A. W., D. G. Iredale, M. Vaisey, and R. York. “Processing Effects on the Texture of Goldeye: (Hiodon alosoides).” Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology Journal 5, no. 1 (1972).

Orton, David C. and James H. Barrett. “Cod and herring: the archaeology and history of medieval sea fishing.” Cod and Herring (2016).

Robertson, Joe D. Resource management: a history of the successes and failures of wildlife and fishery resource management in Manitoba. Dauphin MB: J. Robertson, 1913.

Royale, J.C. “Lowly Goldeye is Elevated to Dish Fit for a King by Mistake in Smoking: Robert Firth Had Last Laugh at Skeptics.” Winnipeg Tribune (August 19, 1937).

Rypel, Andrew L., Michael Angilletta, and Judith L. Bronstein. “The Cold-Water Connection: Bergmann’s Rule in North American Freshwater Fishes.” The American Naturalist 183, no. 1 (2014).

Zubrycki, Karla, Dimple Roy, Hisham Osman, Kimberly Lewtas, Geoffrey Gunn, and Richard Grosshans. “A Summary of the NCRB in Northern Manitoba.” Large Area Planning in the Nelson-Churchill River Basin (NCRB): Laying a Foundation in Northern Manitoba. International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), 2016.