B
Saturday, November 7, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
B ONING U P
ON F ISH
S MOKING
■ A discerning 5-year-old reminds a veteran fish-
smoker that even one bone can ruin the experience
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
A load of fall chinook salmon “swatches” fi lls the top rack of the smoker/cooker grill I keep at
our cabin.
Y
ou are never too old to
learn. I thought I knew
everything about smoking
fi sh until a tiny girl with big blue
eyes and soft curls in her auburn
hair spit out a mouthful of mushed-
up salmon in my hand. It was
family day at a regional sportsman
show. Parents holding infants in
their arms, pushing strollers, and
with small children in hand wan-
dered by the outdoor writer’s booth
I fronted.
Loudspeaker blare interrupted
the hubbub of good cheer to an-
nounce the next special event. The
odor of hot popcorn lingered in the
air. Only six more hours to go, I told
myself.
A couple with two young girls,
ages 3 and 5, paused to peer at a
2-gallon jar that held a foot-long
white sturgeon fl oating in form-
aldehyde solution. I often display
fi sh specimens when I attend trade
shows, hoping their presence will
lead to gainful conversation with
the curious.
“Is it alive?” the older girl asked,
pointing to the sturgeon.
“It is preserved. Just like a
pickle,” I replied.
She was not impressed by my
sleight of word. “What are those
baby fi sh?” she said, pointing to a
smaller jar.
“I’ll give you a hint. They have
three spines or stickles on their
back.”
“Stickly fi sh?”
“Close. They are “threespine
stickleback.”
The exchange led to a satisfi ed
smile from her.
Hoping to gain equal attention,
the 3-year old moved forward and
blurted out, “I don’t like fi sh.”
“She doesn’t even like to eat fi sh,”
older sister explained.
“Not even a tuna fi sh sandwich?”
I asked.
“Nope,” the youngster replied
with an impish smile, before she
retreated to the shelter of her dad’s
legs.
“Ah, the family rebel,” I said.
The 5-year old moved back to cen-
ter stage, “I like fi sh. Also shrimp,
lobster, and oysters.”
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Our 12-year old corgi is deaf, but the scent of salmon smoking and
the hope of a scrap on the ground keeps her vigilant.
THE
NATURAL
WORLD
DENNIS DAUBLE
That’s when I pointed to a small
plate of smoked chinook salmon set
out for people to try. A compliment
generally follows each taste.
“Ever eaten smoked salmon?” I
asked.
The little girl rested her chin on
the tabletop and stared at the plate
of fi sh as if it were exotic fare.
“Would you like to try a bite?” I
said, spearing a small piece with a
toothpick.
When I held the toothpick out,
she moved close and opened her
mouth like a baby robin. I sensed
her trust in me had been breached,
however, when after no more than
two chews, she muttered, “Uh-uh.
bone ...” and spit the chewed up
meat into my outstretched hand.
“I hope the experience won’t
scar her for life,” I said to her
embarrassed parents as the family
retreated into a milling crowd.
For me, the best time to smoke
fi sh is when fall chinook salmon
are on the spawn, sandhill cranes
chortle their way south, and the
lawnmower has been put to rest. I
favor my Little Chief smoker for a
light smoke. The process requires
up to two bags of wood chips and 6
or more hours of tending for a load
of fi sh, depending on outside air
temperature. The electric smoker
has designated use for small-bodied
fi sh that include kokanee, whitefi sh,
and trout.
Kept at our family cabin is
a water-cooled, charcoal-based
cooker/smoker for processing larger
swatches of fi sh meat, for example a
limit of salmon. A rich, sugary glaze
is imparted in 3 to 4 hours. An auto-
matic-feed wood pellet grill, such as
a Traeger, with built-in temperature
control will make your life easier, but
expect to spend $600 or more.
Brining is a personal preference
that involves careful experimenta-
tion. One wet brine recipe involves
soaking a pound of fi sh overnight in
a one-gallon solution to which ½ cup
Kosher salt and ½ cup brown sugar
has been added. Some recipes call
for more sugar and salt (but usually
the same ratio). Adding soy sauce to
the solution will impart an “umami”
taste.
Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo
Flesh color from a late-run fall chinook salmon can range from
blonde to light orange. Many retain enough protein and fat reserves
to qualify for smoking.
My favorite dry brine recipe in-
volves a 4-to-1 ratio of brown sugar
to salt spread evenly over swatches
of fi sh. I layer swatches in a
Tupperware container, refrigerate,
and let the mixture soak and ooze
overnight. Excess ooze is removed
with a paper towel before I rack
the brined meat in my smoker. A
quick “dry” recipe involves coating
fi llets with paprika and ground
black pepper before smoking.
I once put out plates of smoked
sucker and smoked mountain
whitefi sh, and asked friends what
they liked best. Most pointed to the
plate of sucker I labeled “whitefi sh”
and remarked, “I like the white-
fi sh best.” Only then did I admit
I had switched labels to confuse
their culinary preference. This
Searching for the Singing Rock
W
e went
whenever we came out
searching
of the trees the shafts
ON THE TRAIL
for the Sing-
of sunlight carried a
JAYSON JACOBY
ing Rock on the sort of
discernible warmth
October day when both
that would be absent
the cloying heat of summer and the nostril- in, say, January.
clenching chill of winter seem more fantasy
The road meets the trail about a mile
than recent or looming reality.
and a half from the trailhead. From there
The sky was blemished by just a scrim of the route, through the North Fork John
benign cirrus.
Day Wilderness, is all by trail, another 2.3
When we parked at the Granite Creek
miles to the wilderness area’s namesake
trailhead on the morning of Oct. 17 the
river.
temperature was 45 and the air had the
It’s a fi ne trail, well-maintained and nev-
bracing, but benevolent, tinge exclusive to er straying too far from the fetching riffl es
autumn.
and crystalline pools of Granite Creek.
As we hiked along the old mining road
Our hike was brightened not only by the
beside the creek, one of two routes down
autumn sunshine but also by the tama-
its canyon to the confl uence with the
racks, scattered among the fi rs and pines
North Fork John Day River, it was just
and spruces and all but beaming, with
cool enough to justify a light jacket. But
their yellow-orange needles, against the
comparatively dour green backdrop of their
coniferous cousins.
Tamaracks, known more formally as the
western larch, are conifers, but of the rare
deciduous type. Rather than holding their
green needles all year, tamaracks, in the
manner of maples and willows, drop theirs
each fall. But before the needles fl utter
down they turn that inimitable color. It is
to my eyes ones of the signature shades
of the Blue Mountains, joining the winter
trio of blue sky, white snow and the red-tan
bark of a mature ponderosa pine.
See Singing/Page 2B
Lisa Britton/For EO Media Group
The yellow-orange of tamarack trees
brightens the scene along Granite Creek.
experience and others suggest that
abundant libation around holiday
time encourages folks to eat most
anything placed on a festive plate.
I now carefully remove visible
bones before I offer smoked fi sh
for public consumption. Family
members who expect me to supply
smoked fi sh for holiday gather-
ings are welcome to pick out stray
bones for themselves. But, as I
have learned the hard way, little
girls are more discriminating.
Dennis Dauble is author of the
award-winning natural history
guidebook, “Fishes of the Columbia
Basin,” in addition to three
short-story collections about the
fi shing experience. Learn more at
DennisDaubleBooks.com.