Species sheet · The Edible River
Allis shad
A big herring that runs upriver to spawn in spring.
- Grilled over vine cuttings, as on the Loire
- Braised slowly with sorrel (à la bordelaise)
- Stuffed and baked
- In French
- Grande alose
- Scientific name
- Alosa alosa
- In the water
- A migratory Atlantic herring that climbs the big rivers of the French west coast in spring, the Loire, Gironde and Dordogne, to spawn over gravel.
- Season & buying
- A few weeks in spring, on the run upstream; fishing is closed in some basins and tightly regulated elsewhere, ask where it came from.
- Common length
- ~45 cm
- How to identify it
- Large, compressed silver herring body
A black spot behind the gill cover
Saw-toothed belly edge
On the plate
Rich, flavourful flesh close to a large herring, riddled with fine bones.
Avoid: Trying to bone it: cook it long and slow to soften the bones, or grill it and eat patiently.
On spring nights the pairs circle at the surface, beating the water violently: that racket, called the bull, leads fishermen to the spawning grounds.
In Umay recipes
One Umay recipe calls for it.
