Whitefish Dip, Smoked (Lake Superior)

Smoked Lake Superior whitefish is one of the great tastes of the U.P., and this dip is what you do with it when you don’t eat the whole fish standing over the butcher paper first. It’s the classic smoked-fish-and-cream-cheese spread, built to let the smoke and the sweet, delicate whitefish carry it. If you smoke your own (see my Smoking dive) this is the payoff; if you buy it from a fish house like Thill’s in Marquette, even easier. Pairs with the whole whitefish story.

Ingredients

• 8 oz smoked whitefish, skin and any pin bones removed, flaked
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sour cream (or mayonnaise, or half each)
• 2 Tbsp finely minced red onion or shallot
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 to 2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 tsp prepared horseradish (optional, but good)
• black pepper; hot sauce to taste
• salt only if needed (the fish is already salty)

Directions

1. Key ingredients
2. Good smoked whitefish is the whole recipe — buy it from a fish house or smoke your own.
3. Flake carefully:
4. Pull the fish off the skin and go through it with your fingers for pin bones. Keep some of it in flakes rather than mashing everything smooth — texture is half of why a good smoked-fish dip beats a food-processor paste.
5. Fold, don’t blend:
6. Beat the cream cheese and sour cream smooth first, then fold in the fish, onion, lemon, dill and horseradish by hand. Taste before you add any salt; smoked fish is cured and usually brings enough.
7. Rest it:
8. Chill at least an hour so the smoke and dill spread through. Serve with crackers, rye, or — very U.P. — spread on a slice of Trenary Toast. Keeps 4–5 days covered.

Notes

On the fish Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) is the U.P.’s fish — mild, sweet, and forgiving, which is why it smokes so well. Smoked lake trout or even smoked salmon work here too. The fishery is under real pressure now (mussels and lamprey; see the whitefish page), so buy from the people who manage it well.

Variations Add capers, a little Worcestershire, or swap dill for chives. For a looser dip, more sour cream; for a spreadable pâté, more cream cheese. My full whitefish supper is Michigan’s Whitefish Dinner.