What is a Smokie?
Arbroath Smokies originated in Auchmithie, a small fishing village a few miles north of Arbroath, once populated with fisher folk of Scandinavian origin; ‘Spink’ is a Norse surname. Iain uses the same methods that were used in the late 1800’s, as shown in the Fraser Collection photos. The fishwives originally smoked the fish in halved barrels with fires underneath, trapping the smoke under layers of hessian sacking. At the start of the 20th century the first Auchmithie fisher-folk began moving to Arbroath, and the process soon became known as the Arbroath Smokie, as we know it today. Only haddock can be used to produce an authentic ‘Arbroath Smokie’. The fish are gutted at sea, washed and boxed ready for auction at the fish market. Once back in the fish house, they are headed and cleaned, or ‘sounded’. They are then dry salted in tubs for a given period. This helps to draw excess moisture from the fish and toughens the skin in preparation for the smoking process. The length of salting
