Where There's Smoke
The practice of smoking food — and in particular fish — dates back thousands of years. It started as a process to preserve meat and fish and was helpful for storage and preservation because of the acidic coating the smoke created. That coating in turn helped to prevent oxidation and slow bacterial growth. The dehydrating effect the smoking process has is also useful for preservation.
Since the early days, the process of smoking fish has evolved, with some of the first recorded commercial fish smokehouses emerging in 17th-century Britain. In Canada, we have examples of this across the country, where treasured legacies and knowledge have been passed from generation to generation and are now key to economic subsistence. For many, this is exactly what the art of smoking fish represents, and in the Nation’s Capital Region, it is alive and well.
Customers can can drive along the old Highway 105 in Chelsea, and, with their window rolled down on a summer’s day, catch a whiff of the aroma of smoked fish that lingers in the air, or walk through Carp, the charming rural enclave that is home to a new café that serves not only quality lattes and house-made breads, but picnic essentials complete with lake-fish rillettes. And mustn’t forget to visit to a non- descript plaza nestled in Alta Vista, where, if you manage to follow your nose, it will lead you to one of Ottawa’s oldest family-run restaurants and fish markets. Once inside, you’ll hear the chatter of lunchtime diners and witness the work of fishmongers busy plying their trade.
Boucanerie Chelsea Smokehouse
In 2018, Elliott Gosselin and his wife Vanessa Goodkey, took over the ownership of The Chelsea Smokehouse, just outside Gatineau Park. Along with welcoming the birth of their first daughter that same year, the couple also acquired a legacy, built over nearly 50 years in the region. Originally the old Horseshoe Restaurant, it was given new life as a smokehouse and is now a place with a brand new(ish) vision from a seasoned restaurant chef and his young family. “I started to switch my focus more to catering, and when we started looking at commercial rent and businesses, we came across the Boucanerie and fell in love,” Gosselin explains. “The setting, the potential and the fact it had been a community staple for several decades, was very appealing.”
Since he was 14 years old, Gosselin had been working in kitchens across Ottawa, earning a lot of his culinary training through onsite osmosis and hard work. “My first job was at Patty’s Pub, where I was a dishwasher and prep cook,” Gosselin says. “I’ve since catered many weddings and events, prepared food for the National Ballet, for tree planters in Northern B.C., and in many restaurants in Ottawa, including a 10-year stint at the Manx Pub. All these experiences have allowed me to further my skills and techniques.”
Keen to stay true to the original ethos and techniques of the previous owners, Gosselin honed his skills, learning the basics and then added his own. “It continues to be a learning experience everyday,” Gosselin says. “So many things contribute to a perfect cold smoke. Because we live in a climate with drastic temperature fluctuations, I am constantly on my toes with heat, humidity and cold. It really takes love and dedication each and every day to maintain a consistent product, but just like a piece of art, no two smokes are ever the same.”
The Boucanerie menu is a cornucopia of smoked and seafood products. “We’re constantly working to add different flavours of smoked fish and seafood, as well as take-home meals,” Gosselin says when asked how he has modernized the older business model. “Since taking ownership, and with COVID, we’ve offered take-out, including sandwiches. It’s here that our opportunity for creativity soared.”
Herbed-smoked cod sausages, smoked salmon mac ’n’ cheese and even a smoked sturgeon bánh mì and a smoked trout breakfast sandwich, are just some of the new products available at the in-store café. And, of course, there is the famous “Chel- sea crack,” a smoked salmon jerky that is a daily challenge for Gosselin to keep in stock.
“The community coined this term,” Gosselin says. “It takes 10 days to make: we brine the salmon, then we cure, smoke, freeze, slice and marinate it in maple syrup and chili paste for two days. Next, we smoke it again, and finally, we dehydrate it. The sweet and spicy flavour mixed with the chewy texture makes it highly addictive and unique in the region.”
The Boucanerie’s vast list of smoked fish and seafood includes Arctic char, steelhead trout, rainbow trout, albacore tuna, scallops, shrimp, mussels, wild sockeye salmon and more. As Gosselin explains, “We source as much as possible from Canada and select companies who focus on sustainability. We know this is a controversial subject and we do not pretend to be experts, but we do what we can to provide mindfully sourced products that are handled with care.”
Boucanerie Chelsea Smokehouse
706 Quebec Rte.105, Chelsea, Que.
boucaneriechelsea.com | 819.827.1923 | @BoucanerieChelseaSmokehouse
Eldon’s Pantry
After a devastating fire in 2021 displaced young restaurateurs Cory Baird and Marhlee Gaudet from their home, they made the difficult decision to downsize their Glebe-based business, and move everything to be closer with family. Now, nestled amongst the Carp Village landmarks — but not too far from the hustle and bustle of the Kanata Centrum and the Queensway — you can find Eldon’s Pantry in a cosy heritage brick building, complete with expansive windows, iron schoolhouse lights and a bench out front to welcome guests and cyclists.
Aptly named after Baird’s late grandfather, Eldon, who treasured family dinners and a sense of togetherness and nourishment, Baird and Gaudet wanted to create an intimate space to offer their customers that nostalgic, inviting and unpretentious environment. “Our main goal with the café was to create work- life balance,” explains Gaudet. “We had to pick and choose what was worth making in-house and what we should outsource. Part of our ethos is less is more, and we decided to carefully curate a list of products we love and use daily in our small café kitchen, along the few staples we make in-house.”
This brings us to their breads and smoked fish. Gaudet explains that Baird is responsible for the bulk of the food preparation, as well as fine-tuning of recipes, along with support from their small staff. They bake a variety of sourdough breads every Wednesday through to Sunday, starting as early as four o’clock in the morning, and Baird smokes fish several times a week or more, depending on the volume of orders. “Cory loves smoking fish,” Gaudet says about her husband’s passion. “He also loves to make sourdough, and the two are similar in that there is a level of engagement required to do it properly. Cory thrives on that.”
On the Eldon’s menu, you’ll routinely see smoked trout, and depending on the time of year, the couple sources rainbow trout from Kolapore Springs, in Ravenna, Ont., or steelhead trout from Nova Scotia, sourced through Ottawa’s Whalesbone. “When we can get it, we like to bring in lake fish from Northern Ontario through our friends at Eat The Fish, a small fish-processing operation in Thunder Bay,” Baird says. “When we’re able to get whitefish, I’ll make a rillette, but I find that our fish sells best smoked and sold by the side. Or, sliced and served on a toasted house-made rye with a whipped dill chèvre and red onions.”
Baird’s smoked fish is available for purchase either on the menu, or from Eldon’s pantry. However, like the menu when Eldon’s was in the Glebe, its offerings change frequently. “This is the idea of our pantry,” Gaudet says. “We’ll throw together curated baskets, for example, around the holidays, but you should always be able to come in and shop our pantry and leave with a customized picnic, or grazing spread. Since we no longer have a full-service kitchen, we do not offer everything made to order, but we’ll prep things to a point and let you do the rest at home. We like to say, we’re your expanded kitchen pantry.”
Eldon’s Pantry
415 Donald B. Munro Dr., Carp, Ont.
eldonspantry.ca | 613.839.6568 | @eldonspantry
Pelican Seafood Market & Grill
Since 1978, Pelican Seafood has been serving up notable seafood delicacies. You can dine in, take out or shop for fresh and smoked seafood. It’s all here in this family-owned community hub.
For years, Jim Foster and his brother-in-law, Marc Roy (son of Pelican's founder, Gilles Roy), have been at the helm. “I met my amazingly supportive wife, JoAnne — Marc’s sister – at the fish counter in our original location on Merivale Road,” Foster says. “ And now, Marc and I are very fortunate to have my son, Emile Roy-Foster, as our general manager. A Queen’s [engineering graduate,] Emile rejoined the company soon after graduation.”
Emile is a next-generation fishmonger turned entrepreneur, who also introduced his childhood friend, Nathan Rogers, to the family business. Rogers, who grew up in Ottawa, remembers visiting the store as a child, especially around the holidays. Affectionately titled the “pelican master smoker,” he’s been part of the team for more than seven years, and is integral in helping to chart the way forward with its smoked fish menu and take-home favourites.
“For me, true mastery is about understanding the flavour profiles of your product,” Rogers says while sharing a plate of fleshy golden smoked fish. “It’s a funny word, and for me, I think it really means that there’s always something to learn –– and I’m keen to learn. I think it’s about expanding my repertoire as much as possible, and by adding new products or finding new ways to do things.”
Pelican’s smoked offerings follow seasonal availability of fresh products. It is firmly committed to using fresh products for cold smoking — sashimi-grade Atlantic salmon, for example –– to yield the most favourable results. “We don’t want to mask any of those great flavours that the fish has itself; instead, we just want to enhance them,” says Rogers. “We add a little bit of salt. We add a little bit of sugar and, a lot more time than either of those. Then, after four or five days of curing and drying, I stick the fish in the smoker for a few hours, and out comes a beautiful silky, oily — just absolutely succulent — piece of cold-smoked salmon. Honestly, if you’re looking for something to go between bagels, or on rye bread, this is it.”
Rogers spearheads this process approximately two to three times a week, making between 120 to 160 pounds of smoked salmon. Pelican sources much of its salmon from Black’s Harbour, N.B. “We smoke spectacularly fresh salmon that has never been frozen,” emphasizes Foster when asked about the Pelican fresh food philosophy. “In our opinion, fish that is frozen before or after smoking loses its velvety texture. The moisture in fish expands when frozen, damaging the flesh. The moisture also leaks out when it is thawed leaving the product flat.” In fact, Foster makes it his mission to visit the salmon producer and to understand the quality of the fish it provides to customers. “I believe they respect the environment and their customers,” Foster says. “For us, that translates into our salmon being raised sustainably, on a diet that is hormone-, antibiotic- and pesticide-free.”
However, the Pelican smoked menu is more varied than simply cold-smoked Atlantic salmon. Rogers and his team also smoke steelhead trout, rainbow trout and, when they can, Arctic char and wild West Coast salmon. They hot smoke, too. “The steelhead trout has a lot of the same characteristics you’ll see in the salmon,” Rogers says as he showcases a paper-thin sliced piece of fish that, in his words, is a texture experience. “There are a couple differences, for example, it’s a little leaner, so the smoke flavour will come out a little more. Plus, because it’s a little less fatty, you’ll notice a little more meaty flavour. The trout makes a great canapé style of fish, or hors d'oeuvre. In my humble opinion, I recommend replacing this for the ham in your eggs Benedict. It’ll change your life.”
Earlier this year, Rogers added smoked salmon jerky to his offerings. Sweet, salty and smokey, it offers a classic chewy texture of beef jerky. “It’s the ultimate slow food,” he says.
Pelican Seafood Market & Grill
1500 Bank St.,Ottawa, ON
pelicanseafood.ca | 613.526.5229 | @pelicanseafoodmarketandgrill
