Smoking: An Age-old Tradition that is Constantly Being Reinvented

Smoking is one of the oldest techniques of food preservation. Although many Argentinian provinces now use it for various different products, the technique came into its own in Patagonia.

Smoking is usually used to dry and cure meats, but it can also be used with cheese, vegetables, spices, and when making canned products. There is a strong fishing industry in southern Argentina, so all kinds of different fish from the region are smoked.

Different species of trout, from lakes and rivers in the south of the country, as well as pink salmon, are the most popular when it comes to smoked fish. They are usually sold in thin slices, or canned in oil. 

This age-old technique consists of exposing food to a source of smoke, from burning wood with low levels of resin. The forests in the south of Argentina are plenteous, allowing for experimenting with different types of wood, like oak, cypress, or fruit trees.

As the palate of Argentinian consumers grew accustomed to this flavor, factories dedicated to the production of smoked goods, known as smokeries, were established. Although the majority are found in Patagonia, many other Argentinian provinces joined the boom.

Most of the smokeries are family establishments focusing on artisan production. One of the most famous is the Weiss Family Smokery. It was founded over 50 years ago by Ernesto Weiss, an Austrian who settled in Bariloche in the 1970s.

Among its celebrated products, Weiss offers an assortment of venison: sliced, pickled, and canned in oil. Wild or game meat, especially venison and boar, is very popular in the smokeries of southern Argentina.

As well as thinly sliced, or canned in oil, smoked products are also sold as pastes, to be eaten as an appetizer. (For example spread on bread.) The most common of these are made from venison, trout, salmon, vegetables, and certain mushrooms.