Back when I was a young sf reader (when we had dinosaurs and fax machines) I remember reading a wholly unremarkable Mack Reynolds story, that had a fisherman controlling a robotic device and having a little screen so he could choose his fish (and have the robot harpoon it). Struck me as all very well for food fishing and commercial fishing, but not (as the author thought it would be) the death of sport fishing. Still, having tried lugging a handline with me while diving, and gone and watched (underwater) how fish chase and do and don't hit a fly (which most anglers don't realize has happened) my friend Peter has now bought a fishing camera - a device you can lower down and watch on a video screen what is happening. It sounds a bit fragile (by the comments on Amazon) and a bit limited, but maybe old Mack Reynolds was not so far off. He also got an underwater video and still camera so maybe you guys will get some underwater pictures to drool over. Yes. They are drool material, if you dive.
We got given some home made muttonbird and goose salami, made by one of the guys who takes hunting tours. It's a bit over-smoked but certainly the one product is not overtly recognizable as home-made. On the downside, it's rather like good salami - hard to tell it was made from something interesting in the first place.
My father used to smoke his own steelhead (sea going trout, very large). He stopped fishing a long time ago now, probably close to 20 years (he's been gone 2, so it's probably closer to 25), and I've really missed that home-smoked fish. Store bought just isn't the same.
ReplyDeleteLisa S. in Seattle
Good smoking (most store bought, unless you are buying from a boutique aimed at the ultra wealthy, has never seen 'real' smoke.) is as much of art as good knitting, or good embroidery. It's very hard, even with the best machinery, to do consistently, and flavor varies. If you father was regularly turning in a great tasting product, he was a master-craftsman too.
DeleteYes, he was. I think his secret was that he never removed the smoker from the box it came in, so more of the smoke was concentrated on the fish. He used to do it in the garage, so every time you opened the door, it smelled wonderful.
DeleteUsed the same brine every time, and the same mixture of wood chips. I don't remember much variety in the taste.