Provisionary: Homarus/Marshall Smoked Fish
New York Press Ask any food lover where to find the best
smoked fish, and the answer will probably be New York City. Smoked fish
strongholds like Zabar’s, Russ and Daughter’s and Barney Greengrass
have given many Americans their first and most lasting memories of the
stuff, which started out, as did much of New York cuisine, as a humble
Ellis Island import that blossomed into something legendary. How many
tourists return to these delis and appetizing shops, demanding a repeat
of the experience that made their first tastes indelible? Homarus/Marshall,
formerly known as Marshall’s, the legendary Brooklyn smoked fish house
that was recently acquired by East Coast conglomerate Sea Specialties,
and the supplier of sturgeon and other smoked fish delicacies to these
preeminent institutions, is in a sense ensuring the legacy of New York
City as the de facto destination for smoked fish. In
a Middle Village, Queens smokehouse, Homarus/Marshall Smoked Fish has
run its non-kosher division for the last few years, producing such
pricey items as smoked scallops, shrimp and…sturgeon? Surprisingly, the beloved sturgeon, a scaleless fish, "trafe" (i.e. verboten)
by kosher standards, is wildly popular among old-school New York
deli-goers, despite the delicatessen’s inherently Jewish nature.
Shock-value aside, customers at top destinations for smoked fish will
pay anywhere from $30 to $60 for a pound of this luxurious item. The
cooking and smoking of fresh sturgeon is done in old-fashioned
chambers–"Fifty years old if they’re a day!" says Mitchell Gardner of
Homarus/Marshall, who oversees this aspect of production–that are no
longer being built. In high contrast to so
deluxe a food product, the five brick-lined "ovens," blackened with
smoke and fish oil, bear a greater resemblance to a grungy sauna or
torture chamber than to a vessel for the production of fine food. At
the start of the process, meticulously cleaned, dried and cured fillets
of male sturgeon (the meat of the female, apparently, has an
unpleasant, jelly-like consistency) are hung by hand in the oven, and
start to cook once the gas vents inside are ignited. After it has been
cooked, the sturgeon is smoked, which means that a small quantity of
wood chips nesting in a pile of Easter-grass-like shavings is set
aflame on the oven floor. The door is closed, and the smoke commingles
with the fish for 20 to 30 minutes, giving it its soft, smoky flavor
and distinctive tan veneer. Though newer ovens
allow for a more streamlined production, Gardner insists that these
ovens, with their porous walls and years of smoked fish history, are
one of Homarus/Marshall’s secret ingredients. "These ovens give a flavor profile that you do not get in modern ovens." With
an anticipatory grin, Gardner opens one of the cardboard boxes that
stores the final product as though it were a treasure chest. He reveals
dauntingly chubby sturgeon fillets oozing with oil and the enticing,
slightly metallic smell of freshly smoked fish. Gardner takes a yellow
piece of waxed paper and lifts a hunk onto a stainless steel surface,
where he begins to cut it on angle, throwing fatty pieces aside,
tossing every third sliver into his well-practiced gullet, and offering
me some in between. The flesh is white and
pale, and compared to its other high-end brothers and sisters, has a
meatier texture than the more delicate smoked salmon, and is moister
than the flaky white fish. At first bite, the sturgeon is surprisingly
fresh-tasting and juicy for a fish that is salted and smoked. Between oily bites, Gardner manages, "We take a lot of pride in the fact that our sturgeon is that good."
September 2, 2003
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