Smoked Fish Recipe
Two of my friends, Jeff and Peter, are avid smokers. Salmon, pork, sausages -- they do it all, and have been trying to persuade me to try it. Both of them are Boston apartment dwellers without as much as a parking spot, let alone a back yard. But it didn't stop them from buying Cameron smokers - turkey roasting type pan with a rack and a cover -- and smoking on the stove top. "It's only $50. You should really get one," they told me.

Last week, I finally gave in to peer pressure. I didn't buy the indoor smoker or any other kitchen toy that would languish in my closet. Not only is it an unnecessary contraption, but it does more to perfume your apartment than the food. If I was going to smoke, I was going to do it my way - outside, with wood chips, and tuna cans. Why are tuna cans essential for smoking? Read on.

My mission was to smoke a whole salmon. The smallest salmon Captain Marden's in Wellesley could get me was 6 Lb. Of course, reasonable cooks would try an unfamiliar technique on a smaller fish, but who said I was reasonable.

After pouring over my fish cookbooks I learned that hot-smoked fish is traditionally brined in a strong salty solution in order to preserve it and improve its flavor. I am so glad that food is perishable. If it wasn't for preservation, our ancestors would have never made the great culinary discoveries of brining, smoking, and pickling. I brined the fish overnight, then air dried it for a few hours as James Peterson suggested in his "Fish and Shellfish" book.

It was finally time to smoke. According to Peterson, I could smoke on the grill by moving the glowing coals to a side so that they cook the fish indirectly. There was only one problem - I have a gas, not a charcoal grill. But if people smoke on the stove top, surely I could do it on a gas grill. I turned on the grill, covered it with foil, spread some wood chips and waited for them to smoke. My plan was to suspend the fish over the wood chips, so that the fire does not cook it directly. That's when the empty tuna cans came in handy. I set 2 cans on the grill and placed a rack with salmon on top. I stuck an instant read thermometer into salmon and partially covered the grill.

The only thing left to do was to wait. I called my Grandmother (the fish authority in our family) to tell her about my experiment. She was wondering why I didn't just go to a Russian store and buy the fish, but found my smoking experiment fascinating. In about 45 minutes, the fish reached 140F - the "done" temperature according to my books. The moment of truth has arrived. I peeled back its golden skin and popped a few pale pink flakes into my mouth. It was heavenly - sweet, salty, and luscious with pronounced smokiness. It tasted like smoked fish from a Russian store - the kind my Grandma used to bring home wrapped in newspaper - but this was the first time I tasted it warm. The only proper way to consume it was with my hands, licking the smoky flavor off my fingers.*

Smoked Fish Recipe

* Warning: Smoked fish is highly addictive. To minimize the risk of gustatory pleasure stick with supermarket vacuum packed varieties.