Kipper
A kipper is a herring which has been split from tail to head, eviscerated, lightly salted, and mildly smoked.Kippers are claimed to have been invented by John Woodger at Seahouses in Northumberland, England around 1843. Local legend states that this happened accidentally, when fish for processing was left overnight in a room with a smoking stove. It was assumed that the fish would be wasted but on checking they were found to be delicious.
This photo shows the place, in a street about 50m from Seahouses harbour,
where the kipper "accident" is said to have occurred.
Also in the Middle Ages Europe, kippers would rush onto the field of a tournament and bash knights who had fallen off a horse senseless with clubs and sticks to make the job of taking their armour easier. Kippers were usually hired by the opposing knight whose right it was to take the armour of a knight "beaten" in combat. Later in the later Middle Ages kippers were frowned on as tournaments began to less resemble real warfare.
See also: food preservation, curing, smoking