I was attempting to cold smoke my trout earlier. There is almost always a problem of one kind or another – usually it starts to rain. Today, though, it was dry, and the forecast said continuing dry. But they did say “wind.” Yeah. There was a lot of it – from the east. Fanned by this wind, the sawdust kept catching fire, which I was quick to extinguish. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, people keep saying. Well, they are wrong – maybe elsewhere, but not when you are trying to cold smoke your trout. You have smoke, but no fire. Except today.

So I went on my merry way, getting up the smoke, which in due course, was doing okay. Not very long after that I heard “flop,” soon followed by another, and another still. I knew what that was. “Flop” wasn’t an altogether unfamiliar sound. It was the trout falling off the hooks in the smoker, and onto the floor. I quickly removed the back of the smoker, and saw the reason for it. The smoker was on fire!

I doused the fire and retrieved my fish. While I was cleaning them off, it started to rain, which I thought wouldn’t last very long, and I could resume my efforts. But the rain lasted for twenty-four hours and there was flooding in parts of the country.

I vowed to give up cold smoking. And when I resumed my efforts, I was feeling sad that I was never going to smoke again. By the time I got things going again, I began to feel pretty good about the whole thing, and of course not, I wasn’t going to stop cold smoking my trout. There is so much joy in it – Nedra is so very fond of it, and serving it to guests, who have the nicest things to say, is a real pleasure.

Here’s one for you to try. It isn’t exactly like roll-mops. Only being sweet is all they have in common. And if you don’t want to use malt vinegar, which some people would prefer not to use. So it’s cider vinegar instead. Nobody around making controversy about this one.

Assemble the ingredients. If you don’t have all the herbs, don’t worry, use something else, or leave it/them out. It won’t make any basic difference to the finished product. Neither am I providing quantities; it depends how much fish you are going to pickle. In this situation the best practice is to taste it, since you will probably be the best judge as to when it is right.

Cut your trout into bite-size pieces

Lemon juice
Ginger (powder is just fine)
Olive oil
Coriander (powder or fresh)
Brown sugar (from a specified country, which suggests that it is genuine, and not white sugar dyed brown)
Dill
Cinnamon
Black pepper
Cloves
Orange juice
Salt (un-iodized)
And, of course, cider vinegar
Cloves

Mix it all together. You will probably want to add more of this or that (it’s harder to subtract ingredients). I tend to prefer it sweet. When you feel you’ve got it right, put in your trout, fully covered, and await eagerly. Give it a couple of days in the refrigerator and dig in.

You will soon have made some new friends.

I have never been particularly successful hot smoking my trout. This is the process that actually cooks the fish, as opposed to cold smoking, which cures it with smoke, and is raw.

We stopped by a place one day where they did it commercially. It was okay, but not all that great. They explained that you had to control the temperature. I wasn’t sure how I could do that on a little barrel smoker that also served as a barbeque. I was then told to “brine it.” That made the difference. I did it for two hours. You could do it for three if you like it saltier. Put in sugar and various herbs. Taste it. You’ll discover that you are the best judge of when it is “right.”

Saw dust or wood chips go into my little barrel/ barbeque smoker, I close it up and let it cook away, checking occasionally to see that all is well. It will be obvious to you when it is done.

Eat it hot or cold – we do a reasonable number of fish at the time, which we freeze for future eating. If you want a real treat, cut up some paprika small, or raw red pepper, and mix in with your smoked trout.

I like the idea of being a one-pot cook – chuck it all in one great pot, cook it up, serve it, bend low over it and dig in. But it doesn’t work that way with fish pie. I need two pots. We make a substantial amount each time, in this case, enough to fill sixteen containers, so it is there when you want something quick, and delicious. If you are going to re-heat in the microwave, use plastic containers, rather than aluminium foil ones.

Carry on:

Cook your poatoes. Mash. (Mash, or don’t, to the extent you like mashed potatoes.) Make your own decision regarding quantities.

In another (big) pot throw in the onions (we use the cut-up frozen ones).

Next, in the same pot, the tomatoes, tinned, or fresh if you have them, which you can squish with your hands, Italian style.

Garlic and red pepper. should you wish. A tin of tomato paste (optional)

Cook until almost ready

Then add your trout, boned and skinned. Break up the fish in the pot, with a metal spatula or similar.

Add the potatoes. Put in salt, pepper, herbs and spices, as required.

Cook until ready. Dispense into appropriate containers. Squeeze tomato paste onto surface. Install in freezer.

When preparing for consumption, heat to near term, place a substantial amount of cheese on surface, and allow it to melt (optional).

Eat and enjoy. You will love it.

© Sidney Du Broff 2010