1. 1 Aaron Weissman 23 August 2007 @ 7:43 am

   Firefly;

   You are talking about Jewish soul-food. There is nothing better than good whitefish salad. Careful; this is really rich. A little goes a long way.

   I would lightly cure it (about 3/4 sugar and 1/4 salt; only a few hours), cold-smoke it and then chop it into salad. Add mayo, celery, celery seed, dill, parsley, fresh ground pepper and a little salt.

   About $30/pount at Zabars.

2. 2 Walter Greenspan 23 August 2007 @ 1:17 pm

   Smoked whitefish is my choice, accompanied by a glass of Schav (a sorrell/sour grass drink) with a scoop of sour cream, macaroni salad, Greek salad (with smoked herring) and bialys slathered in butter.

   However, the whitefish that is smoked and then eaten whole or put into a salad is whitefish from the Great Lakes and I do not think this is the same as whitefish found in Montana.

   See:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitefish

3. 3 firefly 23 August 2007 @ 6:00 pm

   Now see, Walter, you throw out an “I do not think” and a wikipedia reference, but you don’t even check to see if you’re right. Which you are not.

   In Montana, we have native Mountain Whitefish,(Prosopium williamsoni), primarily living in rivers. 5 pounds is huge.

   However, we also have Lake Whitefish, (Coregonus clupeaformis)which commonly weigh 2 to 4 pounds. They are considered native in St. Marys Lake. They like deep water, in clear, cold lakes - like Flathead, however they also thrive in Fresno, which is fairly warm and turbid. In Montana, this species is commonly called lake Superior Whitefish, and is, in fact the same species, genus etc. as the fishies that live in the Great Lakes. This is what I have.

   We also have pygmy whitefish (Prosopium coulteri)which are too little (6″-8″) to catch and eat unless you are a big assed lake or bull trout.

   Aaron, that sounds good, except for the evil dill, which *shudder* only enters my house diluted in pickle juice.

4. 4 Walter Greenspan 23 August 2007 @ 9:24 pm

   I’d be delighted to know how Lake Whitefish from the Great Lakes are found in Montana.

   Here’s what a smoked Lake Whitefish looks like (curtesy of Zabar’s):

   http://tinyurl.com/2f4cnu

5. 5 firefly 24 August 2007 @ 7:34 am

   http://www.montanaoutdoor.com/index.php3
   Second picture down. (or just click on my fishing reports link over there —>) It isn’t smoked.

   They are considered an introduced species, but Fish & Game has no current genetic data on Flathead Lake Whitefish. They are commercially fished on Flathead.

6. 6 Aaron Weissman 27 August 2007 @ 7:37 am

   Evil dill? I don’t understand how those two words can be placed next to each other.

   And Walter, I have smoked Montana whitefish before. Tastes the same as the stuff I get in the East Coast delis.

7. 7 Walter Greenspan 27 August 2007 @ 12:43 pm

   I’ve always purchased Whitefish in an appetizing store or in the apperizing section in a supermarket, but never in a deli.

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