From our correspondent Yolanda Gerritsen in New York City.

Herring lovers in and around New York can rejoice! Happy days are here again with the much-anticipated arrival of the 2011 First Catch Herring -- straight from Scheveningen. The 2011 Holland Herring Festival is now in full swing at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal, the historic and classic establishment for fresh seafood aficionados in New York. In its cavernous rooms a special area has been reserved for herring enthusiasts right at the entrance. You can’t miss it: posters and a traditional Dutch ‘haring kar’ (herring cart) mark the area where you can indulge in the tasty morsels that most Dutchmen and other nationals eagerly look forward to every spring.

The 2011 Holland Herring Festival was officially opened by Dutch Consul General Gajus Scheltema, the Oyster Bar’s executive chef Sandy Ingber and General Manager Jonathan Young.

Mr. Scheltema, who will leave New York for a diplomatic post in Islamabad, performed one of his last official duties -- spreading Dutch Culture in New York -- with aplomb. He showed those present the proper, traditional Dutch way to eat a herring: holding it by its tail, tilting the head back and slowly letting it slide into the mouth, thus savoring its delicate, slight saltiness that recalls the waters of the North Sea where the fish was caught. Mr. Ingber, Mr. Young, and Consul General Scheltema, repeated this ritual and then declared the Holland Herring Festival officially open to the public.

For the past thirty years the Holland Herring Festival at the Oyster Bar has become a much-loved tradition every spring. When the first catch of ‘nieuwe haring’ is welcomed at the fishing-port of Scheveningen, the freshly caught delicacy is air-expressed directly to the Oyster Bar in New York. The quality of the first catch can vary from year to year, but this 2011 season the new herring is really delicious and executive chef Sandy Ingber called it “a top quality herring catch, perhaps the best in the history of the festival."

The Festival will last until Friday June 24. Herring filets, served at the Oyster Bar with chopped hard-boiled egg, chopped sweet onions and chives, are $ 7.00 a piece. In addition, the menu features “Dutch Martinis", made with Ketel One Vodka ($11.75) or with Bols Genever ($10.50).

Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal
Herring Festival through June 24
http://www.oysterbarny.com/

Oyster Bar’s executive chef Sandy Ingber, Dutch Consul General Gajus Scheltema, and General Manager Jonathan Young.