The beginnings of preserving and smoking are lost in the mists
of time - but we can use our imagination!
Who can tell when our coastal living ancestors first noticed that
some foods washed in the sea kept longer than foods washed in fresh
water?
We will never know when the first accidental discovery of the preserved
- and edible - effects, of storing fish in salt took place or how
they realized that salt preserved fish.
The preserving and curing processes employed by our ancestors in
prehistory, were just that - a method of storing produce before
the days of refrigeration, using salt as the preserving agent or
using brine (a mixture of salt and water), to soak the produce in.
Space for storage of the salted products then became imperative.
What was needed was a cool dry place to store the produce Years
ago, wooden barrels were used and making these barrels was a skill
that few possessed, the name given to these skilled craftsmen was
Coopers. Before the use of barrels most people would have used underground
chambers or caches around their property. When these were full,
the roof spaces in occupied huts, caves etc. were used with varying
degrees of success, as these areas were not as cool as the chambers.
In an age before chimneys, smoke from the cooking fires which would
have been fueled primarily on wood and peat would have collected
in certain areas in the roof spaces where some salted fish or meat
was stored. Who first realized that, kept in the places that the
smoke gathered, the fish and meat remained edible for longer and
(dare we say) had a better flavour? Maybe one of the reasons that
food was stored in caches and in large amounts is due to the yearly
migration of different types of fish or wild herds of animals moving
from one breeding ground to another or looking for better pastures.
If we look at our own sea, we have different seasons for fishing
when the fish pass by us in vast quantities. Herring in Autumn and
Salmon in Winter to name but just two. (This I will go into in more
detail later.)
Although the use of salt and smoke to cure and preserve is part
of our ancestors' ancient history, the scientific reasons why this
should happen are relatively newly discovered.
Briefly, salt penetrates the cells of the flesh by a process called
osmosis leaving the way open for smoke molecules to follow. These
smoke molecules complete the cure by adding natural antibacterial
and preserving agents that also have a tenderizing effect, different
types of wood would also have given a different flavor to the produce,
oak has and still does give a very distinct flavor.
Too high a temperature, the drying effect of high airflow with
low moisture content, or a combination of these factors, can seal
the surface of the meat or fish before sufficient smoke molecules
have penetrated to achieve the natural preserving and tenderizing
effects.
For thousands of years, salting and smoking foods took place for
the purpose of preservation and long-term storage. These foods were
very salty, many required soaking in fresh water to remove salt
before they were edible, or so strongly flavored with smoke as to
make them almost inedible or at the very least an 'acquired' taste!
In the 1930's, The Torry Fisheries Research Establishment at Aberdeen,
developed a smoker with a relatively high airspeed, to help producers
meet the demand for the large quantities of kippers, smoked haddock,
golden cutlets etc., which required a greater drying effect.
In order to reduce weight loss and increase throughput, many producers
reduced the smoking times and introduced dyes to simulate the appearance
of a product smoked for a longer period. These products have come
to be accepted by many as the normal smoked product, which to a
person who has never tasted correctly smoked fish tastes quite good,
to others its the difference between 5 year old mutton and spring
lamb.
The same equipment was then used in the production of smoked salmon.
Commercial considerations led to a reduction of smoking time to
reduce weight loss. This product, with its milder flavor, has been
now accepted as the norm and, without the requirement to preserve
or store for long periods without refrigeration, more in line with
today's tastes.
The number of traditional salmon smokers declined as they found
that they were unable to compete on price alone with the faster
conventional processes, and many of the people introduced to smoke
salmon during this period have never had the opportunity to taste
a traditional product - despite what the packaging might say!
The remaining commercial traditional smokers have been further
affected by the introduction of regulations designed to improve
the standards of production of fresh and unpreserved products and
influenced by the increased level of EC regulations.
It should be noted that historically, European smoking processes
are entirely different from the cold smoking process employed in
smoking salmon in the traditional manner. One can imagine the reaction,
of EC or other officials to the idea of hanging fish in a warm room
for two or three days, if they do not understand the process! However
at the same time they are very fond of Irish and Scottish smoked
salmon that uses traditional methods, this is quite evident by the
volume's of smoked salmon that is consumed in the Irish bars that
surround the EC headquarters in Brussels and where many of its workers
go to relax after a hard day at the office.
Without doubt, a wild fish in peak condition which is correctly
handled and traditionally smoked by a smoker who knows his craft,
is a superb smoked salmon product.
Farmed fish do provide the opportunity to supply fish year round
but as with all farmed species, quality varies from farm to farm
and, as with breeds of cattle, different strains of Atlantic Salmon
are more suited to the smoking process than others.
The recently introduced organically reared fish, which develop
at lower stocking densities, have specially prepared feeds without
artificial colorants and many other controls over their production,
produce a fish with a firmer texture flesh and paler colour which
is closer to a wild salmon. It is ideal for smoking.
Salmon (Herring, Mackerel, Tuna all oily fish) are a natural source
of omega 3, beta 6 and 12, this is said to help to reduce the levels
of cholesterol in the blood. According to Dr. Hardy of the Torry
Research Association, the higher levels of polyunsaturated oil found
in farmed fish give more Omega 3, pound for pound than wild fish,
however for beta 6 and 12 there is a higher level in wild fish.
It would be untrue to say that, on occasion, good quality products
cannot be produced by other traditional or conventional methods,
but only using the highest quality salmon and the natural process
of smoking can we achieve the superb flavor and succulent texture
that Irish smoked salmon is renowned for worldwide.
There are a number of factors that affect the production of a top
quality smoked salmon, given the same supply and quality of fish.
Firstly, it has to be recognized that wild or farmed Atlantic salmon
are individuals with differing metabolic rates and other characteristics,
some of which are the result of handling procedures and the stage
of development at the time they are caught. These differences can
affect the rate of curing and the smoking process nowadays, it must
also be noted that a skilled handler using traditional smoking methods
can produce a product that the best of us would find difficult to
distinguish between wild and farmed Salmon.
Many other variables need to be adjusted but it stands to reason
that these count for nothing if the differences in the individual
fish are not taken into account at the very start of the process.
In most processes, each side of salmon is individually identified
and the weight losses at different stages monitored and recorded.
Any adjustments required are made before the side is allowed to
pass onto the next stage. Then the fish is soaked in brine, the
time varies from smoke house to smoke house as this depends on the
initial product quality of the product to be smoked, the brine solution
is another closely guarded secret and also varies from smoke house
to smoke house. A method that was told to me by an old smoker from
Annalong for the making of brine is to have a local potato about
the size of your hand and stick a 6 " iron nail into it, then
place this into the solution and if it floats with half of the potato
submerged in the Brine you have the correct quantity of salt to
water. Using this method may have worked years ago and a lot of
people nowadays would disagree with it, but if it worked then to
me personally its traditional.
Secondly, the traditional smokehouse has to be constructed in such
a way that a slow natural airflow will be created with the smoldering
sawdust or other smoking material, far enough away to ensure that
the low level of heat generated is dissipated by the time it reaches
the fish.
In these conditions the surface of the fish remain moist and cool
allowing the smoke molecules to penetrate the flesh for much of
the three or four days smoking time. This produced the tenderizing
effect and resulted in the soft succulent texture and appearance
of traditional smoked salmon.
Trying to increase production or shorten smoking times in these
kilns results in disaster! Burn more sawdust and the temperature
rises, increase airflow to cool, the fish dry too fast and the sawdust
burns hotter and produces undesirable carbon, and more heat and
so on! So it takes a very experienced smoker to ensure that none
of the above happens and this can take years upon years of experience
working in this enviroment to ensure that the end product is the
same each time and that it is of the highest quality.
Reducing the size of natural airflow smokers, to conform to hygiene
requirements and production space limitations, was only partially
successful as they were difficult to control and what might work
on a cold frosty night in winter would not work in summertime, this
is when the experienced smoker can make a decision that affects
the end-product to ensure that its of the highest quality.
The majority of salmon smokers were forced to use the relatively
high flow, laminar airflow smokers to stand any chance of meeting
their production targets and they abandoned any attempt to reproduce
the traditional texture of the product.
In terms of today's commercial considerations and regulations,
the conditions required of the equipment to produce a Smoked Salmon
of traditional texture and flavour could be defined as a low, natural
airflow with a high intensity of smoke molecules that would produce
a traditional texture and flavour in an acceptable time, all housed
in a compact, hygienic enclosure where the temperature could be
exactly and efficiently controlled.
At first sight these conditions appear contradictory, but that
is exactly what makes a smoker one of the more skilled land users
of sea fish.
If you think that any of the information contained above is incorrect
then please let me know so that I can update the information.
Or if you have worked or work in the smoking industry please e-mail
me with any information that you think would help to promote awareness
of smoked products.
