Scotland is justifiably famed for its cured salmon, star of fancy starters everywhere, but maybe less people know about an equally good smoked fish product hailing from the same land : the Arbroath smokie.

These smoke-cured delicacies are said to have been 'invented' by accident, when a salted fish production building burned down, but this is in all probability just a romantic story. Salting and smoking is a popular fish preserving technique in many northern countries.

To make Arbroath smokies, haddock are cured in salt overnight on the bone, then after drying off are tied in pairs before being suspended in a wooden barrel which has a fire in its base. The barrel is covered with wet sackcloth, and the fish then both cook and smoke in the hot and humid smoke.

All this results in a beautifully delicate and creamy texture to the finished product, which is good eaten immediately, or will keep well for much longer than a normal fish.

Arbroath smokies have now been granted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status from the EU, meaning that only fish prepared in the traditional method in or around Arbroath are able to mark themselves as Arbroath Smokies.

What To Do With Them

- Flake off the smokey meat from the skeleton, and make a sandwich with rye bread, mayo, chopped parsley, and freshly squeezed lemon juice and black pepper to taste

- Gently simmer the smokies in warm milk to warm them through, then use the flavoured liquid to make a creamy parsley sauce. Serve with baby potatoes in the summer, or a creamy mash in colder months

- Use Arbroath smokie instead of clams for a smokey twist to a traditional clam chowder

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 8:21 am and is filed under Gourmet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.