Thank you for smoking

The only agenda this Sunday was food. Food that roams free, frolics in the forest, food you need a keen eye and a keen shot to pot. Food that got away. Again. There is an old shikaari protocol of taking some potatoes on a shoot for times exactly like these. But we weren't too far away from the comforts of a fully loaded kitchen and frugality could be foregone.

There was some talk with a fellow cook about smoking fish a weekend ago and I had been itching to try my hand at that. Not exactly Scottish Smoked Salmon or a Mackerel Kipper, but the first attempt was most definitely worth the effort. Decided to go with a fatty sea fish. Fat's a great carrier of flavour, the best, and keeps the fish from drying out. Managed to lay my hands on 2, 1.5 kilo Groupers. Head removed, gutted, finned and scaled.

The one for the smoker was rubbed down with salt and garlic granules. I can't imagine smoked fish without buckets of salt and besides, it draws out the moisture and leaves you with a nice crunchy skin. Not exactly pork scratchings, but if you like piggy fat, you like fish fat. And trust you me, there is more fat in a nice sized grouper than you would imagine. The fish was left to lie over night.

Ready for the smoker

To hot smoke the fish we dug a pit in the ground, fired up some coal till they were white hot and laid on some water soaked logs. An assortment of logs. Some mango, others I didn't recognise. Next time I am tempted to use some packing wood, pine. I am told pine soaks up water and keeps flames at bay. The smoking pit was then covered with the top-slotted drum, courtesy of  a well-meaning oil company. They are just misunderstood. A little like Hitler. We did have trouble with flames here and the fat dripping off the fish did not help. The drum had to be lifted a few times to kill the fire. Who needs fingers anyway!

The fish was lowered into the drum for about an hour, head side down because that'll get a lot more heat. To be entirely honest with you. The fish was even a little grilled, having failed to keep the flames dead. But you live and you learn eh? Next time I am tempted to try a cold smoker where the smoke pit is further away from the smoking chamber. Might even pass the smoke through a pipe buried in the ground to cool the smoke before it reaches the meat. Then I could leave the fish to really pile on the flavour over a few hours, even a day.



Smoked Garlic Grouper

Cover the drum with a wet sack and watch the sinister contraption steam. I let the smoked fish cool before digging in. Will stay in the fridge for a few days and superb in sandwiches. I am already planning the next smoking. A ham maybe. Maybe even a humble chicken. Watch this space. 

One fish good. Two? Great. The second Grouper was barbecued. Masala style.

For the marinade:

• Green chilies
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Lime juice
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric

That's all I think. I did not marinade this one. I was in charge of the grilling. I charred the fish on both sides for a few minutes each and then popped it into the oven for about 10 minutes at 180 C. Again the fat made the barbecue flame like hell and after failed attempts of raising the grill modern technology was resorted to.

Whacking the fish in the oven made the skin go a little soggy. But on the plus side all the juices weren't lost. The fat drenched gravy would have gone great with some bread. I just drank mine!