May 27 2008
Arbroath smokies
The Scottish town of Arbroath is famous for two things: the Declaration of Arbroath, when the King of the Scots and hissubjects told the King of England exactly what he could do with himself, and Arbroath smokies. These are manufactured from small haddock or whiting which have had their heads removed and their guts pulled out along with the head, the bellies being left intact. They are tied together in pairs by their tails and can thus be suspended over rods for smoking.
Traditionally, smokies were smoked in barrels set over fires and the final product had a dark, tarry appearance which cannot be achieved in modern mechanical kilns.
Smoking
A 70% or 80% brine is used and the fish are soaked from 30 to 45 minutes. They are a lean fish, so salt penetration is more rapid than is the case with fatty fish, like mackerel and buckling.
They should be pre-dried for 2 - 4 hours, then placed in cool smoke (86° F) for half an hour. The temperature is then raised to 160° F and maintained at this heat for a further hour. The fire should then be disturbed and fresh sawdust added to the glowing embers to produce a dense smoke, but the temperature should be dropped to 150° F and maintained for 11/2 hours, at the end of which time the smokies are ready. Weight loss should be about 30%.
Hot smoked salmon
This is an alternative method of dealing with salmon which is not widely known in Britain. It should in particular commend itself to anyone fortunate enough to catch a fair number of salmon, and who would therefore be most likely to appreciate another method of presenting them. Fine fish though the salmon undoubtedly is, it is an established fact that a surfeit of it causes one’s appetite for it to pall quickly when it is poached in the usual style, and there must surely be a limit to the cold smoked salmon any person would wish to consume. Untraditional as it may be considered, it forms the basis of an excellent salad.
Smoking
The salmon is gutted and the blood channel removed, then beheaded; the lug bones and shoulder plates are removed, as they are not required to hang the fish by. The fish is then cut into segments or steaks, about the size you might expect to find in a large can of tinned salmon. The spinal section is removed from each segment, but the skin is left intact. Each piece of fish is washed in cold water, then allowed to drain for 10 minutes. The pieces are now placed in 95% brine (3 lb 51/2 oz salt to 1 gallon water) for 2 hours, then after removal are washed and drained for 15 minutes. The pieces of salmon are now placed on wire mesh trays and allowed to stand for half an hour at room temperature (65 - 70° F) with the skin in contact with the tray. Smoking commences at 80°F and is gradually raised to 170° F over a 3-hour period. This temperature is then maintained and smoking continues for a further period of 21/2 hours. The fish is now ready and, as it begins to cool, the skin should be removed.
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