Smoked Mackerel Tortilla

Friday I was watching Chuck's Day Off, a show on the Food Network and was intrigued with a recipe for a tortilla - which is essentially a Spanish omelette that traditionally has potatoes and onions. I was also curious because it had smoked mackerel and I've always wanted to look into the health pros and cons of these tasty treat.

I know that mackerel, not smoked, is very healthy as it is a fantastic source of omega 3's. When I prescribe an omega 3 supplement to a patient or when I'm critiquing one I always look for one that is made with mackerel, sardine, and/or herring.

Smoked mackerel is another story. Smoking fish is a way to preserve fish and keep it as fresh as possible. Smoking fish does not have to be done, but many people like it for the unique flavor it gives fish. Smoked salmon and mackerel are two of the top purchased smoked fish in the country. Smoking fish started years ago when they would preserve the fish in winter to have over a long period of time. Native Americans also believed that if someone handled the salmon the wrong way, it would drive the salmon away from the waters and they would not be able to catch anymore. They would have it served only at their lavish festivals since it was such a delicacy to them. Salmon was highly respected by the Native Americans, Romans, and Greeks.

There are a variety of ways salmon can be smoked for example, cold-smoking and hot-smoking. Cold-smoking is cooked slowly for about 24 hours at a low temperature and hot-smoking is cooked at a hotter temperature for less time. Before starting either smoking technique the fish is cured with salt for minutes up to hours. This allows for the fish to let salt in and to kill bacteria while letting some moisture out. After curing the meat it will need to be rinsed off before the smoking process begins. Hot smoked fish can not be cut thin as it will fall apart and crumble.

Because of the smoking process the omega 3 content does decrease and there have been studies done that confirms the content of certain carcinogenic (cancer-causing) compounds after smoking fish. One time this was reported was in the September 2004 issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (vol. 84, no. 12,pp. 1545-1552(8)).

Consumption of smoked foods and similarly carcinogenic deli meats should be kept to a minimum. Nevertheless here is the recipe of Chuck's Mackerel Tortilla which was delicious and would be a great brunch entertaining centerpiece.


Ingredients

* 6 potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
* 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil (1 tablespoon for the onions and ½ for the tortilla assembly) (25 ml)
* 2 large onions, peeled, thinly sliced
* 4 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
* 9 eggs
* 1/4 cup 35% cream (65 ml)
* A pinch of coarse salt and cracked black pepper
* 3 small fillets of smoked mackerel, broken apart in chunks

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (177 C)
2. Place whole potatoes in saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil, add a good pinch of salt and cook for about 12 minutes or until just tender. Drain, allow to cool completely and thinly slice.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 20cm non-stick (oven proof) frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook till soft and translucent. About 3- 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic and cook a further 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Continue cooking till onions become a little caramelized and are reduced to ¼ in volume. You don’t want to let anything get too brown. Remove from pan, set aside.
5. Prepare mackerel by peeling the skin off one side and breaking into smallish pieces with your hands.
6. Add the remaining oil to the pan and layer up potato slices, onions and mackerel chunks. Aim for at least 3 or 4 layers.
7. Whisk eggs, cream, salt and pepper in a bowl and pour over the potato, lifting the bottom a little to encourage even distribution. Let cook 2 minutes or so on the burner to get a nice base and start to cook the sides.
8. Place pan in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until browned and cooked through. When it’s ready the edges will be browning, and the top will be puffed up with no signs of runny egg.
9. Placing your serving platter on top, flip the tortilla over, and turn out onto a large round platter and slice into wedges.