Steve wrote on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:11:17 +0000 (UTC):

??>> I was going to have some pickled herring today for lunch
??>> but, herring and mackerel being close friends, I didn't
??>> dare <sigh>

SP> Mackerel is more closely related to tuna than it is to
SP> herring.

SP> Hopefully your allergic reaction is a one-off thing that
SP> will not return. (And possibly, it wasn't even the
SP> mackerel, but something else in your environment.)

Mackerel is a very fatty fish and some of its relatives are oily
enough to cause the runs. An example is escolar, which is
actually banned from use in sushi in Japan but turns up in the
US even if the government is not enthusiastic. It's delicious as
I can vouch for but then I also experienced the standard
physiological effects: never again!

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not