Atlantic herring
śledź · оселедець · sild
Clupea harengus: the silver schooling fish behind most of Europe's salted, pickled and smoked herring.
Photo: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe pantry.
49 foods from our stories, each with a real photograph, the places it comes from and a way to find it near you. Tap any photo for a closer look.
49 foods
Where in the world
Tap a pin to see what swims, ripens or grows there.
All 31 places
- Salacgrīva, Latvia: Reņģēdāju herring-eaters' festival
- Helsinki, Finland: Autumn Baltic herring market on the harbour
- Scheveningen, Netherlands: Vlaggetjesdag welcomes the new herring each June
- Kashubia, Poland: Kashubian herring salad is on Poland's traditional-products list
- Dunkerque, France: Carnival herring thrown from the town hall
- Craster, England: A Northumberland village known for kippers
- Bornholm, Denmark: An island famous for its herring smokehouses
- Hvide Sande, Denmark: Smoked herring at the spring Sildefestival · On the Sildefestival programme
- Vylkove, Ukraine: Danube delta spring catch
- Kiliia, Ukraine: On the Kiliia branch of the Danube
- Odesa, Ukraine: Historic market for the Danube catch · Black Sea kilka at the city's bazaars
- Riga, Latvia: Home of smoked Riga sprats
- Tallinn, Estonia: Kiluvõileib, the sprat sandwich
- Palanga, Lithuania: Winter smelt festival on the coast
- Łódź region, Poland: Kiełbasa chłopska on the traditional-products list
- Kraków, Poland: The city in the name
- Nuremberg, Germany: The protected home of the little bratwurst
- Békéscsaba, Hungary: Csabai Kolbászfesztivál each October
- Szeged, Hungary: Salami makers on the Tisza · Paprika town
- Kakheti, Georgia: Georgia's main wine region · Saperavi's home ground · Its historic home
- Cape Beykush, Ukraine: Planted at Beykush Winery · Planted at Beykush Winery
- Shabo, Ukraine: Bessarabian wine village near the Dniester estuary
- Baniewice, Poland: Grown at Winnica Turnau
- Beaujeu, France: The town that gave Beaujolais its name · Les Sarmentelles release festival
- Podhale, Poland: Bryndza podhalańska PDO · Tatra highlands
- Sarata, Ukraine: Bessarabian brynza on a winemaker's table
- Beaufort, France: Savoie mountain dairies
- La Mancha, Spain: The protected production area
- Les Charbonnières, Switzerland: Vallée de Joux, September celebration
- Międzybórz, Poland: Masło tradycyjne
- Kalocsa, Hungary: Paprika town
Baltic herring
reņģes · räim · silakka
A smaller Baltic Sea herring (Clupea harengus membras): Latvian reņģes, Estonian räim, Finnish silakka.
📍 Salacgrīva📍 Helsinki
Photo: Mikael Nyman · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsMatjes & Hollandse Nieuwe
maatjesharing · Matjes
Young, lightly salted herring with a soft, rich texture. In the Netherlands the season's first is sold as Hollandse Nieuwe.
📍 Scheveningen
Photo: Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsRollmops
Rollmops · rolmopsy
Pickled herring fillets rolled around gherkin or onion and pinned: a German deli classic, loved in Poland too.
Photo: Silar · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsPickled herring
śledzie marynowane · sursild · inlagd sill
Cured herring in a sweet-sour vinegar marinade with onion and spice: Norway's sursild, Sweden's inlagd sill, and the Polish Christmas Eve table.
Photo: MOs810 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHerring salad
sałatka śledziowa · sildesalat · sillsallad
Chopped herring with vegetables such as potato, beetroot, apple or cucumber. Each coast has its own mix; the photo shows a Norwegian one.
📍 Kashubia
Photo: Roede · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsKipper
hareng saur · kipper
A whole herring, split, salted and cold-smoked until bronze. Dunkerque's carnival crowds try to catch wrapped smoked herring.
📍 Dunkerque📍 Craster
Photo: Gaius Cornelius · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsSmoked herring
røget sild · Bückling · wędzony śledź
Whole herring hot-smoked until golden: Danish røget sild, German Bückling, a fixture of Baltic and North Sea smokehouses.
📍 Bornholm📍 Hvide Sande
Photo: Andre86 · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsPontic shad · dunayka
дунайка · оселедець дунайський · scrumbie de Dunăre
Alosa immaculata, a migratory member of the herring family that leaves the Black and Azov seas in spring to spawn in the Danube and Dniester.
📍 Vylkove📍 Kiliia📍 Odesa
Photo: Zsoldos Márton · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSprats
kilu · šprotes · szprotki
Sprattus sprattus, a small, oily cousin of the herring. Smoked and packed in oil it becomes Riga sprats; spiced Estonian kilu tops black bread.
📍 Riga📍 Tallinn📍 Odesa
Photo: Женя · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsEuropean smelt
stinta · Stint · корюшка
Osmerus eperlanus, a slim silvery fish famous for smelling of fresh cucumber. Lithuania's coast celebrates it each winter.
📍 Palanga
Photo: WHell at German Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsFishcakes
fiskefrikadeller · kotlety rybne
Danish fiskefrikadeller: minced fish shaped and pan-fried. The Hvide Sande herring festival kitchen serves them beside smoked and fried herring.
📍 Hvide Sande
Photo: cyclonebill · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSmoked mackerel
makrela wędzona · Räuchermakrele · røget makrel
Rich, oily mackerel hot-smoked until it flakes: a familiar sight at Polish, German and Danish fish smokehouses.
No story yet
Photo: Jocian · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsKiełbasa
kiełbasa
Polish for 'sausage': a whole family rather than one recipe, from smoked village rings to fine-grained loaves.
📍 Łódź region
Photo: Mariuszjbie · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsKabanos
kabanosy
Long, thin, dry-smoked pork sausages that snap when you bite them. Poland registered kabanosy as an EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed.
No story yet
Photo: Kuruni · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsKiełbasa krakowska
krakowska
A thick, lean smoked sausage in the Kraków style, with visible pieces of pork, sliced thin for sandwiches.
📍 Kraków
No story yet
Photo: Mariuszjbie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsKaszanka
kaszanka · кров'янка
Polish blood sausage made with buckwheat or barley groats, usually fried or grilled with onions.
No story yet
Photo: Mariuszjbie · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsKovbasa
ковбаса · домашня ковбаса
Ukrainian sausage. Homemade domashnia kovbasa is coiled, baked and carried to festive tables in rings.
Photo: Мандрівниця · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSalo
сало · słonina
Cured pork fatback, salted and often seasoned with garlic: a beloved Ukrainian table food, sliced thin on rye bread.
No story yet
Photo: Beiot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNürnberger Rostbratwurst
Nürnberger Rostbratwürste
Finger-sized pork bratwurst seasoned with marjoram, protected in the EU as Nürnberger Bratwürste PGI.
📍 Nuremberg
Photo: Dirk Vorderstraße · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsCsabai kolbász
Csabai kolbász
A paprika-red, dry-cured sausage from Békéscsaba in south-east Hungary, protected in the EU as a PGI.
📍 Békéscsaba
Photo: Tobi85 · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsHungarian winter salami
téliszalámi
A fine-grained, mould-ripened salami associated with Szeged, protected in the EU as Szegedi szalámi PDO.
📍 Szeged
No story yet
Photo: snowpea&bokchoi · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsQvevri
ქვევრი
A large egg-shaped clay vessel buried in the ground to make and age wine. Georgia's qvevri method is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.
📍 Kakheti
Photo: MHM55 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSaperavi
საფერავი · Сапераві
Georgia's great red grape, one of the few with red flesh as well as red skin, now grown on Ukraine's Black Sea coast too.
📍 Kakheti📍 Cape Beykush
Photo: Lebowskyclone · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsRkatsiteli
რქაწითელი · Ркацителі
An old Georgian white grape with lively acidity, widely planted around the Black Sea.
📍 Kakheti📍 Cape Beykush
Photo: Mikheil88 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsTelti-Kuruk
Тельті-Курук
A white grape long grown in southern Bessarabia, now a signature of Ukrainian Black Sea winemakers. Pictured: a bottle from Shabo.
📍 Shabo
Photo: Yozh · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSolaris grape
Solaris
A hardy, early-ripening white grape bred in Germany and widely planted in cool vineyards from Poland to Scandinavia.
📍 Baniewice
Photo: ZbyszekB · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsGamay
Gamay noir
The bright, juicy red grape of Beaujolais.
📍 Beaujeu
Photo: Viking59 · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsBeaujolais Nouveau
Beaujolais Nouveau
The year's first Gamay wine, released on the third Thursday of November.
📍 Beaujeu
Photo: Agne27 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsTwaróg · tvorih
twaróg · сир · творог
Fresh, crumbly curd cheese at the heart of Polish and Ukrainian kitchens: for pierogi, cheesecake, syrnyky or breakfast with radishes.
Photo: Loyna · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia CommonsSyrnyky
сирники
Small fried fresh-cheese pancakes, a favourite Ukrainian breakfast with sour cream or jam.
Photo: Tatyana Morozyuk, color processing by Off-shell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBryndza
bryndza · бринза · brânză
A salty sheep's-milk cheese of the Carpathians and Bessarabia, crumbly to creamy. Pictured: Polish bryndza on bread.
📍 Podhale📍 Sarata
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsOscypek
oscypek
A smoked, spindle-shaped sheep's-milk cheese pressed in carved wooden moulds by Tatra highland shepherds; an EU PDO.
📍 Podhale
No story yet
Photo: Pawel Swiegoda ( Paberu ) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia CommonsBeaufort
Beaufort
A firm Alpine cow's-milk cheese from Savoie. Beaufort Chalet d'Alpage is made in summer mountain chalets.
📍 Beaufort
Photo: Zubro · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsManchego
queso manchego
Spain's best-known sheep's-milk cheese, from Manchega sheep in La Mancha, marked by its zigzag rind.
📍 La Mancha
Photo: Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsVacherin Mont-d'Or
Vacherin Mont-d'Or
A soft, seasonal cow's-milk cheese in a spruce band, sold from autumn into spring; a Swiss AOP from the Vaud Jura.
📍 Les Charbonnières
Photo: Guy Waterval · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsButter
masło · масло · smør
Churned from cream, sweet or cultured, salted or not. Poland's traditional-products list includes a butter made in Międzybórz.
📍 Międzybórz
Photo: Aw58 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsDill
koper · кріп · dild
Feathery Anethum graveolens: the herb of Polish and Ukrainian cucumbers, potatoes and fish. Leaves, flowers and seeds all have uses.
Photo: HaJunkiyada · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHeirloom beans
fasola · квасоля · Bohnen
Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean. Many named heirloom varieties survive because gardeners save and share seed.
Photo: Rasbak · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsRadish
rzodkiewka · редиска
A quick root crop, ready a few weeks after sowing: a classic first crop for a pot or a small bed.
Photo: Jengod · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsPickling cucumber
ogórek · огірок
Cucumis sativus. In Poland and Ukraine the small, bumpy pickling types are prized for brined ogórki and ohirky.
Photo: Stephen Ausmus, USDA ARS · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsBrined cucumbers
ogórki kiszone · квашені огірки · Salzgurken
Cucumbers soured in salted water with dill, garlic and horseradish: the crunch of a Polish or Ukrainian table.
No story yet
Photo: Renee Comet (photographer) · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsHorseradish
chrzan · хрін · Meerrettich
A hardy perennial whose fiery grated root sharpens Easter tables, sausages and beetroot ćwikła.
Photo: Pethan · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNew potatoes
ziemniaki · картопля · nypotatis
Boiled new potatoes and herring are a classic Nordic and Polish pairing, and an easy crop for a deep container.
Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA ARS · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsMarjoram
majeranek · Majoran · майоран
A sweet, piney herb: the signature seasoning of Nürnberger bratwurst and of Polish żurek.
Photo: H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBeetroot
burak · буряк
The root of borscht, barszcz and ćwikła. Easy to grow, and good from leaf to root.
No story yet
Photo: W.carter · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsGarlic
czosnek · часник
Usually planted in autumn and lifted in summer, and essential to kovbasa, salo and brined cucumbers.
Photo: Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSauerkraut
kapusta kiszona · квашена капуста
Finely shredded cabbage soured by lactic fermentation: the base of bigos and a winter staple across Central and Eastern Europe.
Photo: Alina Zienowicz Ala z · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHungarian paprika
fűszerpaprika
Dried, ground peppers. Szeged and Kalocsa are Hungary's paprika towns, and paprika gives Csabai sausage its colour.
📍 Szeged📍 Kalocsa
Photo: Dguendel · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNothing on that shelf yet.
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Photo credits
Every pantry photograph is a freely licensed file from Wikimedia Commons, used under its licence, resized and converted to WebP. They are reference pictures of each food, not photographs from the stories' sources. Spot a mislabelled photo? Let us know →
- Atlantic herring: Clupea harengus (S0884) (12599080314).jpg by Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, CC BY 2.0
- Baltic herring: Clupea harengus membras - Mikael Nyman - 653555864.jpeg by Mikael Nyman, CC BY 4.0
- Matjes & Hollandse Nieuwe: Haring 04.jpg by Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Rollmops: 04452 Rollmops.jpg by Silar, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Pickled herring: Pickled herring (Poznan).JPG by MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Herring salad: Sildesalat 2.jpg by Roede, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kipper: Kipper.JPG by Gaius Cornelius, Public domain
- Smoked herring: Smoked herring sold in Italy.jpg by Andre86, Public domain
- Pontic shad · dunayka: Caspialosa kessleri pontica Dunai hering.jpg by Zsoldos Márton, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Sprats: Odesa bazaar (5) sprats.JPG by Женя, CC BY-SA 3.0
- European smelt: Stint Portrait-kl.jpg by WHell at German Wikipedia, Public domain
- Fishcakes: Flickr - cyclonebill - Fiskefrikadeller med laks, pangasius og rejer.jpg by cyclonebill, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Smoked mackerel: Smoked mackerel-01.jpg by Jocian, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kiełbasa: Kielbasa.jpg by Mariuszjbie, CC BY 3.0
- Kabanos: Kabanos.jpg by Kuruni, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kiełbasa krakowska: Kiełbasa krakowska 2.jpg by Mariuszjbie, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kaszanka: Kaszanka.jpg by Mariuszjbie, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kovbasa: Домашня ковбаса, запечена в духовці. Заводське. Полтавщина. 2026 07.jpg by Мандрівниця, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Salo: Sało.JPG by Beiot, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Nürnberger Rostbratwurst: Nürnberger Würstchen (10579337046).jpg by Dirk Vorderstraße, CC BY 2.0
- Csabai kolbász: Csabai kolbász.jpg by Tobi85, Public domain
- Hungarian winter salami: Pick téliszalámi.jpg by snowpea&bokchoi, CC BY 2.0
- Qvevri: Qvevri-Georgia-UNOG-2016-01.jpg by MHM55, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Saperavi: Saperavibunch.jpg by Lebowskyclone, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Rkatsiteli: Rkatsiteli.jpg by Mikheil88, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Telti-Kuruk: Telti kuruk shabo.jpg by Yozh, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Solaris grape: Solaris-grona.jpg by ZbyszekB, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Gamay: Gamay.jpg by Viking59, Public domain
- Beaujolais Nouveau: Beaujolais nouveau wine.jpg by Agne27, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Twaróg · tvorih: Творог.jpg by Loyna, CC BY-SA 2.5
- Syrnyky: Syrniki6.jpg by Tatyana Morozyuk, color processing by Off-shell, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bryndza: Chleb z bryndza.jpg by Unknown author, Public domain
- Oscypek: Oscypki.jpg by Pawel Swiegoda ( Paberu ), CC BY-SA 2.5
- Beaufort: Beaufort.jpg by Zubro, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Manchego: Queso Manchego. Inauguración del 38º Salón Gourmets (cropped).jpg by Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Vacherin Mont-d'Or: Vacherin Mont d'OR5.JPG by Guy Waterval, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Butter: Masło w maselniczce - 2025.05.29.jpg by Aw58, CC BY 4.0
- Dill: Liat Portal for Foodie Disorder - Fresh Dill.jpg by HaJunkiyada, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Heirloom beans: Snijboon peulen Phaseolus vulgaris.jpg by Rasbak, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Radish: Radish 3371103037 4ab07db0bf o.jpg by Jengod, Public domain
- Pickling cucumber: ARS cucumber.jpg by Stephen Ausmus, USDA ARS, Public domain
- Brined cucumbers: Pickle.jpg by Renee Comet (photographer), Public domain
- Horseradish: Armoracia rusticana.jpg by Pethan, CC BY-SA 3.0
- New potatoes: Patates.jpg by Scott Bauer, USDA ARS, Public domain
- Marjoram: Origanum majorana 002.JPG by H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Beetroot: Beetroots in a basket.jpg by W.carter, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Garlic: Garlic bulbs and cloves.jpg by Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sauerkraut: Kiszona kapusta.JPG by Alina Zienowicz Ala z, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Hungarian paprika: Hamburg, Gewürzmuseum, Paprika edelsüß aus Ungarn.jpg by Dguendel, CC BY 4.0