Neil Robson
Neil belongs to: Merchants and Traders
Neil was born in Craster and is the fourth generation of his family in the kipper business. The business has gone through a series of changes in recent times, but Robson's continues to make kippers.
Neil was interviewed by Kylea Little on 7 February 2006. The interview took place at Robson's Kippers, Craster and lasted 13 minutes and 45 seconds.
Making kippers
"What you do is you get your herring and split down the back, it’s cleaned, washed, and then it’s put into brine solution "
What you do is you get your herring and split down the back, it’s cleaned, washed, and then it’s put into brine solution of just plain salt and water, and it’s in there for 20 minutes. It’s hung up onto a tender stick that I mentioned earlier, and put in the smokehouse and then it’s smoked for about 14 to 16 hours. It’s an overnight process- I mean, what we do is we start in the morning and get them all in by lunchtime and they’re all ready to come out the following morning. But the fires have to be kept relit three or four times during that time, and we use, it’s white wood shavings with oak sawdust over the top and that gives them the, the flavour. That’s the way we’ve always done it.
Visitor Comments
Clarias for kippers
Sorry, this is a question.
Have any other fish been processed the way kippers are done. i.e. the clarias fish, can this be processed like kippers, has this been done? What was the result? What else can be done with the clarias fish. Thank you.
By SHOLA LANDE On 8 September 2006
Neil has 15 memories in the memorynet:
Neil's memories with a Change theme:
Childhood memories of the business- Changes at Robson’s
- Decline in the herring stocks and changes in the industry
- Customers
- The future
- Changes in the Craster fishing community
- Robson’s role in the local community
Robson's Kippers- The piers at Craster
Neil's other memories:
This memory has these themes:
Skills | Traditions | Work
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