Smoking Smokehouse, Enkhuizen

Who's behind it

Mathieu Robert stood in the kitchen for 23 years, a good part of that at the top level in twelve Michelin restaurants. Smoking started at home, as a hobby, with fish. When Onno Kokmeijer from Ciel Bleu asked him to develop an exclusive salmon recipe, it grew into a business. Today, Smoking is at Zoutketen in Enkhuizen and delivers to about 200 restaurants and hospitality venues.

He thinks like a chef: he knows what you want on the plate and smokes toward that. Besides salmon, butterfish and meat, he makes cold-smoked and dry-aged vegetables and fruit.

Cold smoking

Most smokehouses smoke hot, around 27 degrees, and finish in about six hours. Smoking smokes cold, at a maximum of 7 degrees, for 48 hours. At that low temperature the product stays raw. The structure of the fresh vegetable stays intact, the color stays bright and less salt is needed.

A winter carrot or pumpkin keeps its bite and color and gets a layer of smoke that goes deep into the product. With the dry aged version the product dries first, so the flavor concentrates before the smoke moves in. Cold-smoked pineapple keeps its sweet-sour balance, with a smoky note underneath.

In your kitchen

Smoked vegetables give a vegetarian dish or side as much weight as a piece of meat. The carrot and pumpkin come pan-ready, so you slice and plate.

Think of a carpaccio of smoked pumpkin, fingerlings with a smoky note from the oven, or thin slices of smoked carrot laid raw under a warm dish.