Smoked Trout

The trout lives in mountain waters, which are pure and rich in oxygen. It can usually be found on the menu of good Romanian restaurants, but it is also offered by many of the better guesthouses. In the northern Romanian province of Bukovina there is a typical dish, usually known as “trout smoked in a kobza”.- kobza is a pear-shaped stringed instrument of Persian origin.



The ”Kobza” dish has the same shape as the instrument, but is made of willow twigs and fir branches. A kobza like this, large enough for 5-6 trout and weighing about 1 kilogram in all, was thought to be the perfect recipient to carry and store the smoked trout for a couple of days, with no need to put them in the fridge.



The trout are smoked in fir-tree wood smoke, which gives them a brownish color. It’s this wood that is said to give the fish a slightly sweet taste. Those who have refined their trout-smoking skills can also use spruce tree cones, dried and cleaned, to give the trout a slightly bitter taste.



For 12 hours before they are smoked, the trout are kept in salted water, to which pepper grains and bay leaves have been added. Then we leave the trout in the smoke house for about 4 hours, until they take on their distinctive brown color.



Smoked trout can be served on its own, but also as salad.

România Internațional, 10.10.2013, 18:31

The trout lives in mountain waters, which are pure and rich in oxygen. It can usually be found on the menu of good Romanian restaurants, but it is also offered by many of the better guesthouses. In the northern Romanian province of Bukovina there is a typical dish, usually known as “trout smoked in a kobza”.- kobza is a pear-shaped stringed instrument of Persian origin.



The ”Kobza” dish has the same shape as the instrument, but is made of willow twigs and fir branches. A kobza like this, large enough for 5-6 trout and weighing about 1 kilogram in all, was thought to be the perfect recipient to carry and store the smoked trout for a couple of days, with no need to put them in the fridge.



The trout are smoked in fir-tree wood smoke, which gives them a brownish color. It’s this wood that is said to give the fish a slightly sweet taste. Those who have refined their trout-smoking skills can also use spruce tree cones, dried and cleaned, to give the trout a slightly bitter taste.



For 12 hours before they are smoked, the trout are kept in salted water, to which pepper grains and bay leaves have been added. Then we leave the trout in the smoke house for about 4 hours, until they take on their distinctive brown color.



Smoked trout can be served on its own, but also as salad.

To prepare this, you’ll need one kilo of potatoes, 3 or 4 trout, one onion, an apple, and a few cucumbers pickled in vinegar. We boil the potatoes in their jackets, and then we peel them and cut them in round slices, about half a centimeter thick.

We also cut the cucumbers into round slices, slice the onion into ‘julienne’ strips, and finely cut the apple. We remove the bones from the trout in order to get the fillet, which is also cut into fine slices. Finally, mix everything together, add just a touch of vinegar or lemon juice to taste, and there we go — the perfect trout salad!



Enjoy!