When in Doubt, Eat Trout
The first time I remember being truly awed by food, it was trout that did it. My family was on vacation in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and we were walking past Smoky Mountain Trout House when I spied an aquarium in the window. It was teeming with rainbow trout.
I asked why they had those fish in the aquarium, but before my parents could answer, someone fished out a trout and carried it off to the kitchen to become someone’s dinner.
I had to eat there.
It might have been that trip or another soon after, but we did eat there. I don’t remember what I got, but I remember the excitement of going up to the aquarium and pointing out the trout I wanted, then watching, rapt, as they removed it from the water and took it to the kitchen.
I was young then, 8 or 10, and in the decades since, I’ve visited Smoky Mountain Trout House a handful of times, and I’ve encountered mountain trout, North Carolina mountain trout, wild mountain trout, and several other names for this simple ingredient on menus in five states. Whatever you call it, trout is a heritage food for those living in the Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains. They live in the clearest of mountain streams, you can catch them year-round (within fishing regulations, of course), and they’ve been served on dinner plates for centuries. They’re a key part of our food history, and many of the best chefs in the region are coming up with ways to keep trout on their menu all year long, varying their preparations but also varying what they serve alongside.
“We try to venerate that fish,” says Nate Allen, chef and owner of Knife & Fork in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. “It’s a great, versatile ingredient, one that’s not limited to season but one that pairs really well with all sorts of seasonal produce.”
In summer, Allen serves trout ceviche; in spring, it’s with spring greens and new potatoes and other foraged greens and roots. In fall and winter, he surprises diners who think of seafood as a warm-weather dish with the heartier cuts—collars and cheeks—going into stews, and filets served over root vegetables and late-season greens. His dishes are elevated to fine-dining level, but they’re never far removed from their simple roots, creating plates that are rustic but refined.
“Trout’s always been around, so we’re always going to keep it around. This is an ingredient that kept mountain people alive for generations. We can’t lose that,” he says.
At Smoky Park Supper Club in Asheville, North Carolina, Chef Michelle Bailey cooks over wood—keeping alive another mountain tradition and infusing every dish that comes out of her kitchen with a complexity you only get from smoke. Her trout is no exception.
“In the fall, I love to serve trout that has been brined in local cider and a fresh herb like thyme or rosemary,” she says. “Those aromatics and the hint of sweetness from the cider accentuates the delicate flavor of the fish without overpowering it. One of my favorite fall recipes is Sunburst Farms Trout, seared grape relish, faro, and grilled kale salad, roasted butternut squash, and smoky muscadine vinaigrette.”
Chef Bailey’s take on those sides may be contemporary, but the dish achieves its main goal—to replicate the flavors of fall—with some simple elements: squash, smoke, and grapes. Muscadine grapes may be more difficult for the home cook to come by, especially in late fall, but squash are plentiful, and, as Bailey explains, achieving some of that smoky flavor at home isn’t difficult.
“The home cook can introduce smoke to the dish by cooking the trout in a cast-iron pan or on a smoker,” she says.
If you’re cooking on a grill, simply drop your soaked wood chips on the coals or grill grates just before you put the fish in your preheated cast-iron skillet (Bailey recommends the pan be “ripping hot”). If you’re cooking inside, go for the oven rather than the stovetop and put a few soaked wood chips on a piece of foil while the trout cooks.
Bailey goes on to say she thinks cooks should be less intimidated by cooking a whole fish.
“When you cook a fish intact, it leads to a more flavorful and moist product,” she says. “Just be sure it’s cooked through and always finish it off by cooking the skin over high heat to get it nice and crispy.”
About the author: Jason Frye is a food and travel writer from North Carolina and the author of Moon Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip, Moon North Carolina, Moon Asheville, and other guides.