THE LOWDOWN Hot smoking

WHAT IS SMOKING?

Smoking food has played an important part in cooking cultures around the world for thousands of years. In the past, smoking, combined with curing, was a means to preserve food, so it was a useful way of keeping scarce provisions for longer. Today, however, the technique is primarily prized for the unique way it changes the way food tastes. Smoking gives food an extra dimension of flavour. There are many techniques used, ranging from hot smoking to cold smoking, warm smoking and liquid smoking, and there is a huge range of sophisticated gear available today to do the job. Having said that, it’s surprisingly easy to have a go at smoking yourself and get some great results with a small amount of knowhow and some fairly basic equipment.

TYPES OF SMOKED FOOD (AND DRINK)

Everyday examples that everyone will be familiar with include smoked salmon, bacon and ham; while kippers, Arbroath smokies and pastrami are also classic smoked delicacies. Beyond meat and fish, however, are products as varied as scotch whisky (which uses peat