Smoke dried fish

[Big Splash]

This is smoke dried Rainbow trout. It is perserved, and will last 6 months to a year without refridgeration. My Native friends showed me how to make this, they call it 'dryfish'.

Salmon done this way was once a staple diet here on the pacific coast, and could be used as a trade item to obtain other goods. The proliferation of Salmon alowed the coastal tribes to gather wealth and form highly developed artistic and social societies. There is evidence to show that dried fish and fish oils were traded far to the east, where bison was the staple. When the European traders arrived in great ships, the dried fish was carried away to the farthest corners of the globe.

[funny farm]

Cool bit of history . Is it tasty ?

[Big Splash]

It's a lot like fish jerky. Very tasty when it's fresh. You can vary the salt or spice to taste. Great with a tall cool one. Smoke can be seen drifting from my smoke-house regularly.

One of the advantages as a trade item, it is very light weight and a man can carry a large amount over the foot trails common to early trade in the mountainous terrain.

Another item seen on those those trails was fish oils, rendered at the coast and carried in cedar boxes and sewn salmon skins. Can you imagine carrying all that aromatic stuff in Grizzly bear country?

[Nathan]

I tried smoking fish a couple times,I could get the fish rolled in the tiny papers ok,but I couldn't keep them lit...I must be doing something wrong..Nathan

[Celticav]