Another culinary chapter of my stay at La Brugue, in the Lot region of southwest France, involved the arrival of Rachel & Ben to the farm. I'd heard all about Ben's love of smoked salmon long before I met the man & was looking forward to exchanging a few ideas about this dish, also a favourite of mine.
On the menu, smoked salmon is always a hit. In New Zealand, where we are obsessed with Eggs Benedict, there is not a cafe I know of that does not have salmon as an option, usually smoked, to replace the Eggs Benedict bacon or ham. At the last cafe kitchen I ran we smoked our own, & it was one of the most popular items on our menu, not to mention one of the mis-en-plus tasks I most looked forward to completing!
One of the things I love most about cooking is that everyone loves eating delicious things , so it's easy to get excited about food when you're surround by people who love to cook delicious things! Ben & I wasted little time getting started with the serious business of just what would happen with the salmon fillets we'd shortly be preparing. A proficient smoker of foods, Ben had brought with him the "Smoke Daddy", a portable device which he fitted to the side of the bbq drum which had been lurking dusty & neglected in the old stone out buildings at La Brugue until now.
As it turned out, our treatment of the salmon was similar, both favouring the brining method as an integral part of the process. Only the recipe needed experimenting with, so we combined ideas & got started. Not wanting to get between a man & his bbq, Ben went for it with the cooking side of things while I took photos & poured the g&t's.
Ingredients: the brine
a large bowl full of cold water
salt/sugar in equal quantities, i use about 1/3 of a cup of each
gin, about 3 or 4 generous glugs
vanilla, preferably a dried pod, split in 1/2 & the seeds scraped in
juniper berries, 3 or 4, bruised with the back of a knife
a salmon fillet, whole or cut into portions
ingredients: the smoking
sawdust - I love manuka, we used oak, but grape vine prunings are wonderful too
brown sugar/maple syrup
method: the brining
*mix the salt/sugar/gin/spices in the bowl of h2o & stir to dissolve
(taste & adjust salty/sweetness accordingly, if you feel it necessary)
*to portion the fillet, one cut down the middle & divide each 1/2 into 5 or 6 equal sizes
*immerse the salmon in the brine & set aside over night
method: the smoking
*pat dry the salmon & lay out on a wire rack
*sprinkle/drizzle a spoonful of brown sugar/maple syrup on each piece
*lay a generous quantity of sawdust in the bottom of your smoker, ignite a low flame
*when sufficient smoke is happening, quickly open the smoker, place in the rack of salmon portions, & close the smoker again - minimising loss of smoke in the process
*cooking time will vary, depending on the smoker, the strength/intensity of the flame/heat source, the size of the portions; trial & error is the only gauge here for doing it yourself
-for my small pieces, 120g or so, roughly 7-10 minutes is ample
*remove & serve immediately, or set aside to set in the cooler overnight
*when ready, gently slice the salmon as finely as possible to serve
(tip: a sheet of foil over the sawdust during smoking will stop oily/sugary drips falling on the sawdust & producing an unpleasant black smoke which taints the final flavour
We brined our fish in the early morning allowing it to sit for a 12 hour period during the day, finishing the smoking process later that night. An outdoor exercise, everyone sat waiting patiently in the pool house, sipping more g&t's in readiness for repeated sampling. Fortunate indeed to have so many willing volunteers, Ben was kept busy slicing salmon in varying degrees of cookedness & delivering them to the waiting panel of experts.
The next morning, watching Ben slicing the finished product, we gathered at the dining table at the back door garden where most meals at La Brugue were enjoyed, while summer lingered on. Together we stood around eating cool gin&vanilla freshly smoked salmon with salted capers & Rocamadour cheese.
Nice one Ben, love your work!
No comments:
Post a Comment