Chef Joost
Gebakken Schol
A whole North Sea plaice, dusted with flour and fried in butter, is the Dutch weeknight fish at its plainest and best: crisp skin, sweet flesh, potatoes waiting.
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Gestoomde Makreel
Created by
The Dutch fishmonger's mackerel is not boiled in silence but cooked in smoke, rich, oily, and honest, the kind of fish you eat on bread before lunch becomes complicated.
Main Dishes
Dutch
Quick Meal
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
1 hr cook•2 hr 15 min total
Yield4 servings
In Yerseke, fish arrived with its own clock. Mussels had their months, herring had its brief June glory, and mackerel came in with that blue-black back like wet slate, a travelling fish that looked as if it had stolen its colours from the North Sea itself. The fishmonger sold it whole, split, peppered, smoked, wrapped in paper. You carried it home warm if you were lucky, and the paper went translucent where the good fat touched it.
But let me tell you a secret. Gestoomde makreel is one of those Dutch names that lies politely. It says gestoomd, steamed, but in the fish shop it usually means warm gerookt, hot-smoked: cooked through in a smoking oven until the flesh turns soft, bronze-skinned, and rich enough to need lemon, onion, and very little else. The name already tells you something about Dutch kitchen speech, which often cares more for practical result than technical purity. The fish is cooked gently. It stays juicy. Good enough, says the language.
Makreel needs this simplicity. It is an oily fish, generous but unforgiving, and if you cook it hard it will punish you with dryness and bitterness. Salt it briefly so the flesh firms, dry it well so the smoke can cling, then let mild wood do the work. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: brown bread, butter, a squeeze of lemon, a few rings of raw onion. A dish without its story is half a meal, but this one is still best eaten with your fingers.
Mackerel has long been a common North Sea and Atlantic catch in Dutch fish shops, valued because its high fat content takes especially well to salting and smoking. In the Netherlands, gestoomde makreel usually refers to hot-smoked mackerel rather than water-steamed fish, a fishmonger's usage that distinguishes it from colder, firmer smoked preparations. Its place is everyday rather than ceremonial: sold whole or filleted at the visboer, the fishmonger, and eaten on bread for a quick, inexpensive meal.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole fresh mackerel
Quantity
2, about 400g each
cleaned and gutted
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons
light brown sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
black pepper
Quantity
1 teaspoon
freshly ground
mustard seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lightly crushed
lemon
Quantity
1
cut into wedges
red onion
Quantity
1 small
sliced into thin rings
unsalted butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons
softened
brown bread or rye bread
Quantity
8 slices
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
1 small handful
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole fresh mackerelcleaned and gutted | 2, about 400g each |
| fine sea salt | 2 tablespoons |
| light brown sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| black pepperfreshly ground | 1 teaspoon |
| mustard seedslightly crushed | 1 teaspoon |
| lemoncut into wedges | 1 |
| red onionsliced into thin rings | 1 small |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 4 tablespoons |
| brown bread or rye bread | 8 slices |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 1 small handful |
Equipment Needed
- •Smoker or covered barbecue with lid
- •Wire rack set over a tray
- •Kitchen thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Check the fish
Rinse the mackerel briefly under cold running water and pat it very dry, inside and out. The eyes should be clear, the skin glossy, and the smell cleanly marine, not sharp. Mackerel is rich in oil, which is why it is so good smoked and why it must be fresh. Old mackerel announces itself, and not politely.
- 2
Salt it briefly
Mix the sea salt, brown sugar, black pepper, and crushed mustard seeds. Rub the mixture over the fish and inside the cavities, then lay the mackerel on a tray in the refrigerator for 45 minutes. This is not a heavy cure. It firms the flesh, seasons the fish to the bone, and helps the skin take on that bronze smokehouse colour.
Do not leave small mackerel in the salt for hours. The fish is too delicate for bullying, and the cure should season it, not turn it into a salt lick. - 3
Dry the surface
Rinse the fish quickly to remove excess cure, then pat it dry again with kitchen paper. Set it uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or in a cool airy place for 20 minutes. The skin should feel slightly tacky. Smoke clings to that tacky surface; wet fish simply sulks.
- 4
Smoke gently
Prepare a smoker or covered barbecue for indirect low heat, about 90C to 110C, with a small handful of beech, oak, or apple wood. Lay the mackerel on the rack and cook gently for 45 to 60 minutes, depending on size, until the skin is deep gold and the flesh flakes cleanly from the bone. If you use a thermometer, the thickest part should reach 63C. You want soft flesh, not a dry lesson in impatience.
- 5
Rest and flake
Let the fish rest for 10 minutes. Pull away the skin where it lifts easily, then ease the flesh from the backbone in large flakes, watching for the fine pin bones along the centre. Keep the pieces generous. Gestoomde makreel should look like fish, not paste.
- 6
Serve on bread
Spread the brown bread with butter, lay the warm-smoked mackerel on top, and finish with lemon juice, thin onion rings, and parsley if you like it. Eat while the fish is still soft and glossy, or chill it for later. I prefer the first slice standing at the counter. For obvious reasons, this is not a formal dining room fish.
Chef Tips
- •Buy mackerel the day you cook it. The fish should be stiff, bright-eyed, and clean-smelling; high fat is a gift only when the fish is fresh.
- •Beech is the Dutch fish-shop wood in spirit: mild, steady, and not too sweet. Oak works well, apple is gentler, but avoid heavy resinous woods.
- •No smoker? Ask a good fishmonger for whole gestoomde makreel and serve it this same way. The honest shortcut is buying the fish already smoked, not pretending an oven will give you smoke.
- •Leftover flakes make a fine lunch stirred with a spoon of mayonnaise, mustard, lemon, and chopped pickle. Keep the pieces coarse. Fish salad should not be punishment by fork.
Advance Preparation
- •The mackerel can be salted, rinsed, dried, and kept uncovered in the refrigerator up to 4 hours before smoking.
- •Smoked mackerel keeps 2 days refrigerated, wrapped well after cooling. Bring it close to room temperature before serving so the fat softens again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
535 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
120 mg
Sodium
1350 mg
Total Carbohydrates
36 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
30 g
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