Smoked Trout Rillettes

Serve with a little spicy red pepper jelly

Following our wonderful road trip - we decided to buy a smoker!

The goal of our trip to Gaspésie was to rediscover what our wonderful province and its people have to offer in the way of food, beauty and inspiration.

We were not disappointed and find ourselves now richer with a knowledge and better understanding of a simple rural way of life that in no way limits, but rather inspires, great food and products.


People who love what they do generously share their recipes, ideas and creativity.  Many thanks to all the wonderful chefs, waiters and producers who gave us tours, shared their recipes (but kept some things secret - which inspires our own creativity) and gave us a glimpse into the work and challenges that go into transforming local ingredients into truly fabulous products for us to enjoy!  Appreciation for  what you are eating just makes it taste that much better!

After discussing home smoking techniques with chef Philip Rae of the Canard Huppé in Île d'Orléans and chef Pascal Boissonnault at Accords (seriously - our favourite restaurant and the location of Sarah's wedding) we decided to try our own hand at smoking.  Turns out that it is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it and you can smoke pretty much anything (we had wonderful smoked cherry tomatoes the other day at Mangiafoco - a great mozzarella bar in Old Montreal).

Here is my recipe for smoked trout Rillettes.  You can smoke your own fish (any fish will work) or buy the hot smoked  (cooked- so it can be flaked) fish at your fish monger or grocery store.  Enjoy!

This is our first video and we are evolving in this process also! Hope you like it.

You will need: makes about 15 appetizer bites (on crackers)

• 500 g (1lb) hot smoked trout or salmon 
• 1 small shallot, finely diced
• 1/2 stick of celery heart, finely diced
• 2 tbsp of mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp of softened butter
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp of maple, pepper and chipotle spice from Soeurs en vrac (or spices of your choice)
• salt, pepper
• 1 tsp of maple syrup (or to taste)

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1. Flake the smoked fish into a bowl,
2. In a separate bowl, combine the softened butter (1tbs) and mayonnaise (2tbsp);
3. Add the lemon zest (1/2 lemon), juice (1tbsp), spice (1/2 tsp), salt, pepper and maple syrup.  Taste and season;
4. Add to the flaked fish in stages to achieve the desired flavour and consistency;
5. Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve;
6. Serve with crackers.

Thought of the day: