Currying favour with new twist on humble smokie

Garry Watson, chef owner of Gordon’s Restaurant with Rooms in Inverkeilor, cooks with a local delicacy

An Arbroath smokie is a hot-smoked haddock. The smoking process cooks and smokes the fish at the same time. Over the years the process has never changed, the haddock comes straight from the boats and sold at market, its head is removed then cleaned, tied at the tail with string then salted for several hours. It’s then washed off and the pairs are hung on sticks to dry.

Then it is set over a fire made from hard wood, mixes of oak, beech ash or sycamore are commonly used, the fish is placed over the fire then covered in hessian sacks, the flames die down creating steam and a very moist atmosphere cooking the fish to form a smokie.

It’s such a unique delicate flavour transforming the humble haddie into something spectacular.

After years of hard work from the late Mr Bob Spink the smokie was given protected geographical indication status under the EU scheme to protect food names.

Nothing can be called an Arbroath smokie unless it’s a haddock, smoked traditionally and made within an 8km radius of Arbroath. Thus putting the smokie in the class of the likes of Parma ham or Champagne.

Smokies originated in Auchmithie – a small village three miles north of Arbroath.

There is a myth that a store caught fire one night destroying barrels of haddock preserved in salt, the following morning the haddock was cooked.

More likely the Vikings came over and showed the villagers their smoking methods which are still employed in Scandinavia.

Towards the end of the 19th Century the Arbroath fishing industry began to die out and the town council offered fisherfolk of Auchmithie increased use of the harbour.

As a result, much of Auchmithie’s population relocated to Arbroath bringing their smoking process with them.

The Arbroath smokie was then named.