The Herring Pilgrimage

Hollandse Nieuwe is not just a fish - it's a season, a ritual and a national event. Every year, usually in June, the first barrel of new-season herring is auctioned off (often for tens of thousands of euros for charity), and the Netherlands goes briefly, collectively herring-mad. The fish are young, fat from feeding in the North Sea, lightly salt-cured (the Dutch method, "gibbing," removes certain organs to start a mild fermentation), and sold from market stalls and street carts called haringkramen. The traditional way to eat one: hold it by the tail, tip your head back, and lower it in. The less theatrical way: chopped on a paper plate with diced raw onion and pickled gherkin, eaten with a toothpick.

The Hague has some of the best herring stalls in the country, particularly around Scheveningen - the city's seaside district where the fishing boats land. It's also the Dutch seat of government: grand, stately, full of museums and parks, and entirely different from Amsterdam's tourist bustle. A raw herring on the seafront at Scheveningen, the wind off the North Sea, a cold beer after - it's the most Dutch experience you can have in an hour's flight. Come in June for the new season and you'll see a whole country excited about a fish.