The Big Smoke

[mrmoshe]

The big smoke

July 10, 2007

HOMECOOK HERO

A family tradition that has crossed the Tasman keeps a hunter-gatherer busy in his smokehouse, writes Paul Bibby.

Many of Robert Mayer's fondest childhood memories come from the old wooden smokehouse tucked behind his parents' seaside home.

The 46-year-old grew up in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, an idyllic seaside hamlet on the North Island. Mayer clearly remembers his father and grandfather returning home with clutches of snapper, sea bass and marlin.

"I would always be there when they came back, cleaning and cooking all of the spoils," he says. "We'd take some of them to the smokehouse, which was basically just an old shed out the back of my parents place, and hang them up for smoking.

"It was always warm in there and had this amazing smell and then, when you ate the fish, you could taste that smokiness. It's something that's really stayed with me, really reminds me of that time."

A generation later, Mayer is continuing the tradition. Every weekend - weather permitting - the father of three heads out into the ocean in his tinny to catch a couple of bream or snapper for smoking in the shed behind his North Balgowlah home.

"I've replicated a walk-in smokehouse at the bottom of the garden - it looks like an outside loo," Mayer says, laughing.

"I love coastal life and catching my own fish and seafood - I'm a bit of a hunter and gatherer really."

Mayer can often be found in his smoking shed, hanging up his latest catch or a freshly bought piece of ham or chicken. In an age when packaged foods predominate, his traditional cooking methods have become well-known around the neighbourhood, earning him a nomination as a Homecook Hero.

"Sometimes you've got to get up in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold to check on it," Mayer says. "But the result really is worth it for that unique smoky flavour. You can use it in pasta dishes, salads and on sandwiches or just have a whole fish as the centrepiece of a meal."

Word of Mayer's exploits, and his willingness to smoke anything that comes through his front door, has now spread to the surrounding streets of North Balgowlah, bringing a line of neighbours bearing fish and other smokables to his front door at Christmas and Easter.

"Judging by the popularity around here you might start to see smoked food making a bit of a comeback in Sydney restaurants," Mayer laughs. "It is an old-school way of doing things, but perhaps that's part of the reason why people like it. It's a way of cooking that has a bit of history for people. It certainly does for me."

Simple smoked fish pie

Olive oil

6-8 onions, peeled and quartered

4-5 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 leeks, sliced

2 cups thickened cream

Salt and pepper

500g smoked fish, chopped

500g white fish, chopped

6 hard-boiled eggs, halved

1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped

2 puff pastry sheets

Milk

6 large ramekins or individual pie dishes

Preheat oven to 200C. Add a little oil to a pan and brown the onions. Add carrots and leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Pour in the cream and gently simmer for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Half fill the ramekins with the onion and cream mix. Add the fish, boiled egg and parsley. Put a pastry "lid" over the top of the pies, brush with a little milk, then place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Serves 6