From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
Scomber scombrus, high-fat fish, available smoked and fresh. The one drawback of mackerel is that it will spoil more quickly than almost any other fish, a fact that gained it the privilege of being the only fish in Elizabethan times to be hawked in the streets on Sunday in London. Scomber is the true mackerel caught in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, although there are several species, including the chub, or "Spanish mackerel", and the scad, or "horse mackerel." Others include the amberjack, jack mackerel and pompano of American and Southeast Asian waters.
