« June 2007 Table of Contents 
Product Spotlight: Smoked seafood
Specialty producers keep traditional preservation technique alive
By April Forristall
June 01, 2007
Smoking has been used to preserve seafood for centuries. It
has been suggested that the technique was discovered
accidentally in ancient times when people learned that fish
dried faster when hung over fire. It's hard to believe that a
process that takes talent and has such flavorful results could
have been discovered by chance.
Thanks to technological advances such as refrigeration and
efficient transportation systems, smoking is no longer the only
way to preserve food, and the main desired result of smoking
seafood is flavor. Worldwide demand for specialty products has
allowed smokers to get creative with their techniques.
The variables responsible for changes in the flavor of
smoked seafood can be controlled by ovens, choices in wood and
elaborate techniques of both hot and cold smoking (see Smoking
Techniques this issue, p. 28). Such progress in analyzing the
details of smoke has taken the guesswork out of smoking and
gives chefs more control over the resulting flavor.
While smoking processes vary, all begin with a few common
techniques. First, the fish is treated with salt - either a
strong brine or a surface coating of dry salt. Most fish are
given a second cure after the initial salting to add more
flavors. Browne Trading Co. in Portland, Maine, smokes haddock,
sablefish, trout, cod and sturgeon. The company cures and
brines its Scotch Cured Smoked Salmon in Scotch whiskey and
finishes it over fruitwood smoke. Its Citrus and Basil Smoked
Salmon is smoked over a blend of hardwood and fruitwood after
being brined in lemon, lime and orange zest oils with vodka,
fresh basil and natural sea salt. After curing, the fish is
rinsed to remove the salt and other curing ingredients from the
surface, then allowed to dry in cool air.
No matter how a fish is smoked, the rich flavor of the
seafood is brought out and makes a little taste go a long
way.
Zhanra's, a restaurant in St. Augustine, Fla., produces its
own smoked product. Its smoked salmon is marinated with sea
salt, sugar and fresh dill then hickory smoked in a stone oven
and used as a topping for pizza with cream cheese, onions,
capers, fresh dill and roasted-garlic infused oil. Zhanra's
Executive Chef John Doering, also the corporate chef for
Coastal Restaurant Group of St. Augustine, Fla., smokes with
"lots of different kinds of woods" because they all have unique
properties. His personal favorite flavors are hickory and apple
wood.
While salmon is the most popular smoked finfish, many
restaurants don't stop there. The Fish Market's upscale Top of
the Market restaurant in San Diego has smoked Pacific albacore
tuna, Idaho rainbow trout and Pacific swordfish on its
menu.
A testament to the product development conducted by small
smokers is the dry-brined and hardwood cold-smoked halibut from
Diamond Lodge Enterprises of King Salmon, Alaska. The product
took home two prizes this year, the grand prize at the Alaska
Symphony of Seafood's New Products Contest and best new retail
product at the International Boston Seafood Show's New Products
competition.
Shellfish is also a popular item for smoking. Ducktrap River
Fish Farm and Browne both offer smoked mussels, clams, shrimp
and scallops. Ducktrap adds its smoked mussels to a cold mussel
rice salad, and recommends its black cherry and hardwood-smoked
shrimp be used in a sandwich with roasted red peppers and
fontina cheese marinated in a white wine sauce. The Belfast,
Maine, company smokes littleneck clams over a blend of
hardwoods and scallops with sugar maple smoke.
Editorial Assistant April Forristall can be e-mailed at
aforristall@divcom.com