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They have been smoking salmon on the site of the
Spey Valley Smokehouse for more than a hundred years. Originally
a small business serving the local community, the company now
despatches its premium product around the world.
Despite the change in size and turnover, the smoking
process is still carried out in the traditional way. Whole sides
of salmon are cured in a mixture of salt and molasses sugar for
up to 30 hours, depending on the size of the fish. The salmon
is then washed and hung on hooks to dry naturally before being
placed in the kiln for smoking, above a fire fuelled with the
shavings of recycled whisky casks or with peat cut from nearby
Scottish hills and moors. In the main it is the wood fire that
is used, the aromatic remnants of the whisky casks contributing
to the distinctive oaky flavour of the smoked fish.
The casks come from the Speyside Cooperage near
Aberlour, a short journey to Grantown-on-Spey where the smokehouse
is situated. There is good fishing to be had all around and many
fishermen and women bring in their catch to be smoked on the premises.
No one knows for sure how food came to be smoked
in the first place, but the likeliest explanation is that it happened
by chance. Meat or fish hanging in a cave or hut was inadvertently
impregnated by smoke from a nearby fire and the rest, as they
say, is history.
Traditional smoked salmon and good malt whisky were
made for each other. The company offers a range of mail-order
product from twin packs of 225g (a generous helping for two) to
a 900g side of salmon, sliced or unsliced. Or you can pop in and
buy it across the counter, and see the smokehouse at work, on
your next visit to Speyside.
To find out more, call 01479 873 078 or email
speysmokehouse@btconnect.com
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