Salted fish, such as
kippered herring or
dried and salted cod, is fish
cured with dry
salt and thus
preserved for later eating.
Drying and/or
salting, either with dry salt or with
brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish until the 19th century.
Dried fish and salted fish (or fish both dried and salted) are a staple of diets in the
Caribbean,
North Africa,
Southeast Asia,
Southern China,
Scandinavia, coastal
Russia, and in the
Arctic. Like other
salt-cured meats, it provides preserved animal protein even in the absence of electrically powered
refrigeration.