BLINK’S SMOKE HOUSE – WHITIANGA

Bruce Toomer learned about fish smoking from Whitianga local Mike ‘Blink’ English, who went on to sell him Blink’s Smoke House in 2016.

Bruce took what had been essentially a small-scale hobby business and turned it into a highly-regarded fish smoking institution, endorsed by locals and visiting anglers from all over. Although Blink was responsible for building the wood-burning smokehouse that produces such consistently high-quality smoked fish, it was Bruce who took the next step by really focussing on fish preparation, taste and presentation.

Bruce takes particular care when butchering and trimming his fish, always removing the bloodline and keeping portion sizes consistent for even smoking. All Bruce’s fish is brined, with the time spent in the brine dependant on the species. For example, kingfish and snapper is brined overnight; marlin and tuna for two or three days.

Time in the smoker also varies according to species. Marlin typically remains in the smokehouse for 24 hours, including cooling and resting. With careful butchering and trimming, a marlin typically yields around 47% of its green body weight in smoked fish.

Bruce likens striped marlin to lamb and blue marlin to mutton: “Blues are a lot tougher and stronger in flavour,” he tells his customers, so they know what to expect. When I spoke to him he’d just finished dealing with the winning fish in the Kubota Billfish Classic Competition, a 250kg blue marlin which had been smoked for 14 hours and then rested inside the smokehouse for another 10 hours.

Bruce uses pohutukawa logs and mulch in Blink’s Smoke House. The relatively dark smoke produces good colour and flavour, which Bruce enhances further with a secret blend of herbs and spices rubbed onto the fish. He’d use fruit tree woods for smoke if they were available locally, but not manuka, since he says it produces a whiter, wetter smoke that doesn’t colour the fish as well. He also reckons manuka imparts a certain tanginess that’s not to everyone’s taste.

When the fish in Blink’s smokehouse is perfectly smoked and wellrested, it’s vacuum-packed and labelled ready for dispatch to the customer. Most of Blink’s customers are anglers. All the local charter skippers put their clients on to Bruce and he’s become adept at packaging smoked fish for overseas visitors to carry on their flights home. Blinks also offers a fish filleting and packaging service.

While the last 12 months have seen no overseas tourists – Australians fishing with local charter operators were important customers for Blink’s Smoke House – local and visiting Kiwis have kept Blink’s busy. In fact, except for August when Bruce takes a month off, he’s always busy because, just like those Aussies, New Zealand anglers know a good thing when they find one.

BLINK’S SMOKE HOUSE, 88 COOK DRIVE, WHITIANGA, (07) 886 4515 OR BRUCE: 027 499 4548.