Canadian Aboriginal Peoples Campfire BBQ Salmon Wet'Suwet'en Style

Instructions

Prepare smoke house or smoker unit using hot smoke (with fire). Hang salmon in smoker at least 3 to 4 hours or overnight, until skin is firm.

Build a large campfire and let burn down to hot coals.

Using a very sharp knife, remove head and cut around gills, removing all bones. Working from inside the fish and being careful not to cut through the skin, cut along both sides of the backbone from the head end to the tail; remove backbone and tail. Open up fish and lay flat.
Weave the alder stick through the fish where the backbone was. Weave willow sticks from side to side through the fish to keep it open and flat. Season with salt and pepper.

Stab salmon stick into the ground about 1 foot from the coals, skin side facing the fire, and cook for 20 minutes. Turn salmon around and cook for another 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve with baked potatoes cooked right in the hot coals, boiled sweet corn and warm bannock. Serves 10 to 12.

The Wet’Suswet’en use alder in the barbecue pit and smoke house because it gives off good heat and flavour.

Feast! Canadian Native Cuisine For All Seasons

Author's Comments

Not recommended is pine, poplar and cedar contain sap that gives off black smoke, turning your salmon black and giving it an unusual taste.