Bella Vista Angler Earns High Praise For Pickled Fish

BELLA VISTA

When Dan Gilman invites the gang over for a fish dinner, it could be weeks before it's time to eat.

Make Pickled Fish

Here is the recipe Dan Gilman uses to make 1 gallon of pickled fish.

Cut fish into bite-size pieces, about 75 to 100 pieces.

Place fish pieces in a glass 1-gallon jar with a secure lid.

Make a brine with 6 cups water and 1 cup of pickling-canning salt. Pour brine over the fish, making sure all pieces are covered. Place the jar in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Drain thoroughly, then pour undiluted white vinegar into the jar to cover the fish. Refrigerate another 24 hours.

After the vinegar soak, drain thoroughly.

Prepare the following pickling solution in a large pan. Mix together 4 cups sugar, 8 tablespoons picking spices, 6 cups white vinegar. Boil for 5 minutes. Strain the solution to remove the pickling spices or wrap the spices in cheese cloth before boiling. Let the solution cool.

Slice two medium-sized onions. Pack the jar alternating layers of fish and onion. Pour the pickling solution into the jar to cover the fish and onions. Refrigerate for at least three days, but longer is better. Gilman lets his fish soak for six to seven weeks before serving.

Source: Dan Gilman

That is, if pickled fish is on the menu.

Frying fish takes a matter of minutes. Pickling fish is one of Gilman's specialties and a process that's measured in weeks or months.

Gilman's pals in the Bella Vista Fly Tyers club call him the pickled-fish guru. Each fall, Gilman fixes gallons of pickled fish to serve at the club's Christmas party in December. He starts pickling in October. By mid-December the fish is ready to eat.

This year Gilman, of Bella Vista, figures he'll make 4 gallons of pickled fish to feed the party-goers. There won't be much in the way of leftovers.

"It's a big hit. Most of the time they eat it all up," Gilman said. He stood in his kitchen on a rainy Thursday, Oct. 23, and got started pickling fish for this year's party.

All the ingredients were laid out on the counter, including pickling spices, vinegar and two onions. Oh, and the fish.

Gilman is an avid angler himself, but his fellow club members donate fish so there will be enough for all to enjoy. Not any kind of fish will do.

"Panfish make the best pickled fish," he said. "Crappie, bluegill and small bass."

Trout can be pickled, but Gilman said he's never tried it. "My brother has, and he says it's excellent."

Gilman was surprised when your faithful outdoors reporter confessed that I'd never eaten pickled fish. Gilman is a native of Wisconsin, where pickled fish is as popular as the Packers. Well, almost.

He isn't the first pickled-fish poobah of the Bella Vista Fly Tyers. The late Ray Phillips started the pickled fish tradition. When Phillips passed, Gilman volunteered to be the club's chief fish pickler.

"I did it mainly because I was just interested in doing it," Gilman said.

With his dog, Raven, watching from the wings, Gilman got to work pickling fish for the holiday party.

Getting Started

The first thing Gilman does is cut the pile of fish filets into bite size pieces, checking for bones along the way. Then he places the fish pieces in a gallon glass jar with a tight lid.

Gilman pours a home-made brine over the fish (see the complete recipe with this story). The fish pieces soak in the brine for 24 hours in the refrigerator. Be sure the brine covers the fish, Gilman noted.

Drain the brine thoroughly from the jar, then pour enough white vinegar into the jar to cover the fish. Soak the fish in the vinegar for another 24 hours in the 'fridge.

Next, Gilaman whips out a large sauce pan and makes a pickling solution from an easy recipe. Now he's ready for the final steps.

After the vinegar soak, Gilman drains the vinegar and removes the fish pieces from the jar. He slices two medium-sized onions, then alternates a layer of fish pieces and a layer of onion, and so on, until all the fish pieces are back in the jar. A Vidalia onion is best, but any onion will do, he said.

Pour the pickling solution into the jar so it covers the fish pieces and onion. Place the jar in the refrigerator for at least three days. The longer the better.

Time to go fishing until the pickled fish is ready -- about mid-December.

Gilman's pickled fish is a little like store-bought pickled herring, he said, only Gilman's fish has firmer flesh. He's not really sure of the shelf-life for a jar of pickled fish. "I've got a jar of pickled herring and the date is a year from now, so I'd guess it's at least that long."

Worldwide Pickling

Gilman has done his research on fish pickling and found that cultures all over the world pickle fish. The treat is indeed one of the highlights of the Fly Tyers' Christmas party, confirmed Wilson "Scotty" Scott, club president.

"I've had it three years in a row, and it is delicious," Scott said. "It goes like wildfire. There's never any left."

Pickled fish parties may never replace the Friday night fish fry, but it's a different way to fix your catch next time they're really biting.

Outdoors on 11/27/2014

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