Smoking is by far the oldest technique for preserving meat and fish.
Our Paleolithic ancestors already used it.
This is, by combining it with salting, to dehydrate the meat and kill bacteria thanks to the antiseptic role of smoke.
Guillaume Triel, in the 14th century in his Taillevent speaks of smoking salmon.
It must be said that at the time, France was full of wild salmon.
It is found in many rivers and fishing is abundant.
However, this dish remains reserved for the elite and especially at royal tables such as that of Charles V. It is to Robert Labeyrie that we owe the popularization of this dish after the war.
The recipe:
- 1 nice salmon fillet with the skin (1.5 kg) thawed
- 1 kg of coarse salt
- 25 g of mixture of 5 berries
- 15 g of sugar
- 10 cl of oil
- sawdust
1.
Mix salt, sugar and berries and rub the salmon with this mixture
2.
Film it and put it in the fridge for 1 night
3.
Rinse the salmon in clean water and brush it with oil.
4.
Make a smokehouse in a casserole dish by wedging a gille halfway up (you can use a wok)
5.
Light the sawdust and let burn for 1 or 2 minutes
6.
Smother the fire
7.
Place the salmon skin side down on the grill and leave to smoke for at least 3 hours