When it comes to food preparations, smoldering wood chips, a smokehouse, and flavored brines are as evocative as they come. But in fact, for thousands of years, smoking has been used simply as a method of preserving fish, and shielding it from airborne bacteria. The flavor of the smoke was simply a perk. Smoked seafood is not only luxurious, but also versatile.

The smoking process demands just three things: salt, smoke, and time. Fish and shellfish with relatively high fat content take best to the process, leaner fish tend to dry out. Ideal fish for smoking include trout, mackerel, bluefish, sturgeon, tuna, scallops, mussels, and shrimp.

Brine is the sugar, salt, and spice mix that cures seafood before it’s smoked. There are two brines; dry and wet. Dry brining is applied directly to the fish. Once the seafood is dried, the brine mixture is rinsed and the seafood is ready to be smoked. Brining times vary according to species and size. Wet brining involves placing the seafood in a water, salt, sugar, and spice solution prior to smoking.

The two basic methods of smoking are hot and cold.

Hot Smoked: This method cooks fish while favoring it with smoke. The process requires the seafood to keep an internal core temperature of 145°F or higher for a specific period. Most hot smoked seafood has a burnished golden appearance, a flaky texture, and doesn’t slice thinly.

Cold Smoked: This process  enhances the flavor, but does not cook the product. Cold-smoked seafood appears shiny, almost translucent, and has a silky texture similar to the raw product. Almost any firm-fleshed fish with a relatively high fat content is conducive to cold smoking.

Hard Smoked: This term refers to jerky-like items that have been heavily salted and smoked. It often does not require refrigeration, like other smoked seafood does.

Lox: From a Yiddish translation of the German lachs, meaning salmon, it refers to a method of curing. Lox has a higher salt level, and is not smoked. Lox can either be wet or dry brined, and is most commonly sliced thinly and served on a bagel with butter or cream cheese.

Nova: This salmon is cured with a milder brine than lox. Traditionally, Atlantic salmon from Nova Scotia were used, but today it refers to an inferior brand of smoked salmon. 

Gravlax: This is a Scandinavian specialty made by packing salmon fillets in salt, sugar, and dill for 2-3 days. The finished product is served in thin slices, with crisp toast, lemon wedges, and a dill mustard sauce.

Kippered: The word has two meanings. The first refers to any seafood that has been hot-smoked, as previously described. The second, commonly used in England, refers to cold-smoked herring.

Buy only fresh product with an appealing smoky aroma. With vacuum packaging, the refrigerated shelf life can reach approximately 2-3 weeks. Once opened, refrigerated smoked fish will keep 7-10 days.

• Fruitwoods and hardwoods give the best results. Apple, cherry, pear, and alderwood all give nuances to fish. The best Scottish salmon is smoked with oak whiskey barrel staves.
• Hickory, maple, and mesquite are excellent for smoking but if  used incorrectly, can give the seafood a too strong smoky tastes. Also try to avoid resinous woods as they tend to flare up, producing an acrid taste.
• Smoking wood is available in sawdust or chips. Sawdust is best for stovetop or hot plate smoking. Wood chips are best if you're using an actual fire or bed of coals. Soaking chips is said to produce more smoke, although it does slow down the cooking process.