froggy from Normandy (Fance)

[clglj]

Hello,

Born from French Parents in Belgium in the French speaking part of the country, move to Paris then to Normandy

Not very attracted by local smoked food besides chicken, mainly ham and pork ribs.

Smoked salmon from Scotland and smoked heels from Holland (one of the only 2 things eatable in this country, dutch cuisine is an oxymoron) were real shocks.

Since at the time (and to some extent, still now) it was nearly impossible to find good smoked salmon where I was living, I decided to do it myself

After having screwed up many and many salmons, I finally built up an acceptable and repeatable process

I do not know if my smoked salmon is good, but those who tried it do have problems eating smoked salmon elsewhere after, whatever the price.

For wood, I am using mainly cherry, plums and dogwood

Some interesting result with Marocco Cedar and Olive tree

poor result with vines wood

I have smoked (both cold and hot) duck breast, foie gras, pork (no froglegs, no)

no chicken since in Normandy U can find very good smoke chicken in every supermarket, for the same price as raw ones

I am now gaining interest in smoking vegetables, up to now with very limited success

I have tried sweet potatoes (my only 1/2 success), carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, potatoes, onions, garlic, celery, fennel, pepper and butternuts

no great results, beside garlic (taste multiplied by 10) and sweet potatoes

Guess there is some necessary preparations (salting, parboil, ????) I am not aware of.

If somebody can help....

I will answer to all questions  I will understand

 

[gary s]

[h1]

Hello and welcome from East Texas. This is a great site, lots of information and great people that are willing to throw in their two cents worth on about anything.   [/h1][h1]  [/h1][h1]Gary[/h1]

 

[clglj]

Hi Gary

Thx for your welcome,

it seems that most of you have made great investigation in the smoking expertise

Claude

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello clglj and Welcome to our addiction.  A word of warning: There is no 12 step program for this one!  Many good folk here with a load of experience that they are more than willing to share.  If you have specific questions just start a thread and someone with experience will be along soon to offer advice.  All info you can provide us with such as smoker type, location and so on will help us answer any questions you may have.  Spend some time doing some research on the forums, tons of advice and recipes already available there.  We look forward to your contributions.  I am from Texas but now live in the U.K..  If I can be of any help please feel free to PM me.  I DO happen to like froglegs, fried not smoked.  

Have fun.  Good luck.  Keep Smokin!

Danny