Door County, With Love—and Smoked Fish Spread

I love Door County, Wisconsin. I love it a lot. A recent trip to Door County has left me feeling nostalgic and inspired. And I want some smoked fish spread.

Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant, Sister Bay

For those unfamiliar with the area, Door County is a 70-mile peninsula that juts out of the east coast of Wisconsin separating Green Bay from Lake Michigan. It is shaped by limestone bluffs, sweeping sand dunes, wetlands, and boreal forests. Along the peninsula are charming towns like Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim and Bailey’s Harbor offering dining, sport, shopping, entertainment, and history. On the west side you will find Peninsula State Park, offering hiking, beaches, and camping.

If you need more testament as to what a wonderful place Door County is, I offer my daughter’s observation from about five years ago: “You know, you never see a Starbucks or a Burger King up here.” That’s a big part of why we enjoy it so much. It is quiet, beautiful, and full of creative artists, farmers, and gastronomes.

Sister Bay, Door County

I make a trip there nearly every year with my family. And please understand… I get it. Having grown up in a Wisconsin resort town, I’m not oblivious to the irony of arriving with Illinois license plates and joining the stream of weekend visitors… those that I used to resent in my youth. Still, I like to think our enthusiastic support of the local economy earns us a little goodwill, and we are always made to feel welcome.

Schoolhouse Beach, Washington Island, Door County

Our trips are dotted with old favorites and new discoveries. My favorites include a traditional Door County Fish Boil at the Old Post Office Restaurant, catching a double feature at the Skyway Drive-In Theatre, digging for unusual vinyl at Rusty Dusty Vintage and Records, and enjoying a few tasty libations at Island Orchard Cider.

Traditional Wisconsin Fish Boil, Old Post Office Restaurant, Ephraim

Atop the peninsula is another essential stop: Charlie’s Smokehouse in Gills Rock. Charlie’s is a small retail shop specializing in smoked fish sold by the pound. Gills Rock is somewhat removed from the bustling Fish Creek, Ephraim, or Sister Bay. It is home to the Weborg fisheries, a commercial fishery that began in the mid-1800s and has shaped Door County’s fishing culture for five generations. A stop at Charlie’s means one thing – smoked fish. Door County has a deep history of smoking fish as a way to preserve their catch. Over time, whitefish and chubs have evolved from fisherman’s fare into an enduring part of the peninsula’s culinary identity.

Smoked Wisconsin Chubs

A lot of the catch at Charlie’s falls within the salmon family, but most aren’t the same fish. The traditional “smoked chub” is usually a bloater, a small deepwater cisco prized for its rich, oily flesh. It is the standard for any connoisseur of Door County smoked fish. There is only one problem – while smoked chubs were once a common sight in Door County fish markets, today they can be difficult to find. Decades of heavy fishing and disruption from invasive species transformed Lake Michigan’s food web, causing several native deepwater chubs to disappear and leaving the surviving bloater chub much less plentiful—and less economical to catch.

As the local fishery dwindled, Door County smokehouses increasingly turned to whitefish or tullibee brought in from Lake Superior, preserving the tradition of smoked Great Lakes fish even as the fish themselves have changed. Tullibee is another name for cisco, or lake herring—a close relative of the bloater that is also excellent smoked. Whitefish is a larger, meatier cousin with a milder flavor.

Smoked Tullibee, Charlie’s Smokehouse

Charlie’s is often my final stop on a trip to Door County. I swing by on the way out of town to ensure I have some goodies to bring home to Chicago. On my most recent visit to Charlie’s, there were no chubs available. The offerings did include the Great Lakes fish mentioned above – whitefish and tullibee. I’m in for about two pounds of each, wrapped gently in wax paper and covered with the daily newspaper secured with a piece of Scotch tape. Into the cooler it goes, and we head back to Chicago.

Olive living her best life in Bailey's Harbor

I’m offering up a recipe that I’ve been making for years. It is a staple in many of the Door County restaurants and supper clubs:  Smoked Fish Spread. It’s a great dish to bring to a party, football game, or an autumn get-together. Super simple to make. Easy to modify to your liking. A couple of notes on this recipe:

• Using a small, oily fish such as a cisco or a tullibee is ideal. You can also substitute packaged smoked fish filets such as trout or mackerel.
• When cleaning a whole smoked fish, peel the skin around the fish from the belly to the top and back around to the other side.

• Pulling the meat off the bone – remove the top of the filet starting at the head and pull gently toward the tail. This helps to ensure that all the pin bones remain on the rest of the fish bones. If you don’t see these pin bones remaining on the rest of the fish, you will need to meticulously search the meat and pull any other pin bones out.

• A portion of the smoked fish is mixed in with the electric stand mixer. This smaller portion of the fish is to be finely broken down into into the cream cheese, sour cream and seasonings. The remaining fish is to be folded in gently as to keep a lot of the flaky texture in the fish pieces.
• Don’t let anyone tell you that serving a Ritz cracker is wrong. They are buttery, delicious, nostalgic. They are the perfect vehicle to get the smoked fish spread to your mouth. Perfectly fine to create your own crostini as well.
• Try spreading some on a toasted bagel or a small smear to add to a BLT sandwich!

Smoked Fish Spread

Yield: about 3 pounds or 24 two-ounce servings

Prep time: 30 minutes

1 pound smoked fish, picked off the bone, pin bones removed, flaked into small pieces

1 pound cream cheese, room temperature

8oz. sour cream

4oz. prepared horseradish

3Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

Salt to taste

3ea. scallions, sliced finely

Ritz crackers

1. Clean the fish and separate into 6oz. & 10oz. portions.

2. Beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer with a paddle for 1 minute.

3. Add the sour cream and beat for 1 minute.

4. With mixer off and using a spatula, scrape and fold the cream cheese/sour cream mix so that it isn’t sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl. Beat for 1 more minute or until smooth.

5. Add 6oz. smoked fish, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and salt to the mix. Beat for another 30 seconds or until the fish is broken down. Remove bowl from the mixer.

6. Using a spatula, gently fold in the scallions and the remaining smoked fish to the mixture until it is just incorporated. Do not over mix.

7. Serve with your favorite crackers, on a toasted bagel, or as an additional light spread in a BLT sandwich.

Want to Get More Confident Cooking Fish?

If this recipe has you ready to cook more fish at home, join us for Hands-On Fall Harvest on the Grill on Friday, September 25 at 6pm, where you’ll learn how to select fish, determine doneness and cook Bourbon-Glazed Cedar-Planked Salmon, along with a complete fall menu.

Or take your skills even further in Culinary Boot Camp, where working with fish is just one part of an intensive curriculum designed to help passionate home cooks master essential techniques and become more confident in the kitchen. Our only remaining Culinary Boot Camp opening this year is the October/November Saturday session, an ideal option for Chicago-area cooks who can’t commit to five consecutive weekdays.