Hot-smoked lake and Baltic fish, eaten warm with rye bread. Smokehouses along the Estonian coast and on Lake Peipus preserved the catch, and smoked flounder and bream are still sold from roadside stalls through the summer.
It needs a real smokehouse that holds a cooking temperature under continuous alder smoke for hours; an improvised version either fails to reach temperature — leaving warm raw fish — or scorches, and hot-smoked fish is perishable either way.
What goes into it
- Baltic or lake fish — flounder, bream, perch, eel
- salt
- alder wood
How it is made
The fish are brined for a few hours, dried until the skin is tacky, and then smoked in a closed smokehouse over alder where the temperature is deliberately taken high enough to cook them through, around 80°C (176°F). Hot smoking cooks and flavours in one operation, which is why the fish is eaten warm and does not keep long.
How long it takes: a few hours of brining, then one to three hours of smoking
How it is eaten
Warm from the smokehouse with rye bread and butter, or cold the same day.
History
Smokehouses along the coast and on Lake Peipus preserved the catch; smoked flounder and bream are still sold from roadside stalls in summer.
Frequently asked questions
What is Suitsukala?
Suitsukala is a charcuterie & cured from Estonia: hot-smoked lake and Baltic fish eaten warm with rye bread. Smokehouses along the coast and on Lake Peipus preserved the catch; smoked flounder and bream are still sold from roadside stalls in summer.
How is Suitsukala made?
The fish are brined for a few hours, dried until the skin is tacky, and then smoked in a closed smokehouse over alder where the temperature is deliberately taken high enough to cook them through, around 80°C (176°F). Hot smoking cooks and flavours in one operation, which is why the fish is eaten warm and does not keep long. It takes a few hours of brining, then one to three hours of smoking.
Can I make Suitsukala at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It needs a real smokehouse that holds a cooking temperature under continuous alder smoke for hours; an improvised version either fails to reach temperature — leaving warm raw fish — or scorches, and hot-smoked fish is perishable either way.
What goes into Suitsukala?
Baltic or lake fish — flounder, bream, perch, eel, salt, alder wood.
How is Suitsukala eaten?
Warm from the smokehouse with rye bread and butter, or cold the same day.
