A child of Red Duke of York potatoes, Smile is so-named from the white, smiley markings on the surface of the potato.
When eel is smoked it has a delicate flavour and excellent texture for slicing thinly, as it is firm enough to hold together. This means that the slices can be served on little rounds of brown bread (US: wheat bread), perhaps with some horseradish sauce or soured cream as a canapé or as a starter. We were invited to a reception at the Casa Batlló in Barcelona. The secret of going to a reception in a Gaudi building is not to drink too much as the building is wonky, which can lead to confusion. Some of the canapés contained delicious smoked eel. It is often served, usually skinned, cut into pieces and served on aspic with toast and butter.
With smoked herring, the head is removed and the fish is gutted before being hot-smoked. It should be eaten quickly, and needs no further cooking. It should be firm, and copper-coloured.
When buying smoked salmon look at the white markings which cross the red flesh in wavy parallel lines. These should not be too wide as, if the fish is too oily, the flavour won't be at its best.
Smoking is a process by which foods (meats, fish and shellfish, cheeses, vegetables even) are preserved, or sometimes merely flavoured, by being exposed to smoke. Since woods produce smoke which imparts great flavour to foods this is what is most often used, with different woods being favoured in different parts of the world. This would be dependent upon availability and taste. Europeans are inclined to favour the more del=icate alder, beech and apple and get their stronger versions from oak. In the US hickory and oak, mesquite and maple are more favoured, with alder and fruit woods coming up behind. It is also possible to smoke foods for flavour, though not for preservation, using other things entirely, such as teas, or corncobs. Hot smoking is carried out at temperatures between 165ºF (75ºC) and 185ºF (85ºC). Unlike cold-smoking, this renders foods cooked, so that they are pretty safe to consume after the end of the smoking process. Good quality smoking, with someone keeping an eye on the process, can result in wonderful foods, moist and flavourful. Sometimes industrial hot-smoking can end in foods that are dry and chewy. Cold smoking is carried out at somewhere between 80º F (30ºC) and 100º F ( 40ºC over a period of anything from four hours to four days. In cold smoking the item being treated is hung in the smoke but not in direct heat. The result is an intense smoky flavour, often with the food deeply bronzed in colour, but be aware as this process may not have cooked the food in question.
A variety of Pacific oyster from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.
