Not a new pope, but smoked fish
Created: 12/23/2022, 3:00 p.m
A look into the smokehouse: The fish are hung on hooks on a kind of shelf or spread out on a tray and pushed into the smoker.
After two and a half hours, the whitefish, trout, char and bream fillets come out golden yellow.
The Ambach fisherman Martin Maier not only opened the window to his smokehouse for our series, but even opened the door to his holy of holies for us.
© tal
To get in the mood for Christmas, we invite you to the Advent window.
Today we look into the smoking chamber of the Ambacher Fischwirtschaftsmeister Martin Maier.
Ambach – White smoke rises from the chimney into the cloudy December sky.
However, the door does not open to the Sistine Chapel, where the smoke heralds a new pope, but rather gives a glimpse into the smokehouse of the fisherman Martin Maier from the Huber fishery in Ambach (Münsing).
The hut with the stove is located next to the Landhotel Huber, just a few meters from the shore of Lake Starnberg.
Münsing: A look behind the scenes at fish management master Martin Maier
In the lake, the 35-year-old used to net whitefish and bream out of the water.
A few char and trout from regional aquaculture are also put in the oven.
The fish that Maier selects for smoking are shock-frozen beforehand.
As the expert explains, this destroys the mucous cells and gives the skin a beautiful shine.
Before smoking, the fish farmer soaks the pangolins in brine for several hours and then lets them dry.
Suspended on metal hooks, they now wander into the smoker, which is about two meters high.
Maier filleted the larger bream.
The pieces are spread out on a grid.
The fish first cook in the oven at around 80 degrees Celsius.
Maier heats with gas, others use wood for firing.
"I can regulate the temperature better with gas," he explains.
In between, the fisherman keeps turning the temperature control up briefly to kill all possible germs.
The moisture escapes in the form of exhaust air - visible as white smoke.
After two and a half hours the fish are smoked
After cooking, smoking begins.
Fine beech flour, which the fisherman places in a bowl above the gas burner on the floor of the oven, ensures the typical taste and golden yellow color of the smoked food.
"Some also use ground fruit wood such as cherry or plum," says Martin Maier.
He could also add herbs to the flour.
However, he is content with crushed pepper and bay leaves so as not to distort the fine aroma of the freshwater fish.
A wonderful scent soon spreads through the hut.
After two and a half hours, Maier opens the oven door and, wearing gloves, takes the whitefish, char and trout from the hook, or the bream from the grill.
In addition to hot smoking, the fisherman also uses the cold smoking method.
The maximum temperature in the oven here is 30 degrees Celsius.
The fish are salted more intensively to preserve them, have a bit more bite and have a longer shelf life.
The Maiers – grandfather Johann Huber, mother Doris Maier, Martin Maier and wife Eva-Maria Caggiano – sell some of the smoked whitefish, char and lake trout in their farm shop at Holzbergstraße 5 as whole pieces.
Maier cuts the other part into fillets after smoking and cooling down for a while.
These are more popular, he says, although deboning these types of fish is easy, unlike whitefish like bream or carp.
He also sells smoked eel.
However, the threatened species is subject to strict catch restrictions.
The family likes to process bream into fine cream or fish quiche.
She prepares salads, pickles and ravioli herself.
A special feature is their carp ham.
Fishing rights are always inherited
The Maiers mainly deliver fresh fish to restaurants.
They sell the specialties with regard to the closed season from mid-March to October.
In the meantime, the closed season for Renken has begun, which is why the Christmas sale is the last this year.
If you still want a fish on your plate: The family is still selling this Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
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There are still 34 professional fishermen on Lake Starnberg.
There used to be over 100. In 1861 they formed a fishing guild and in 1909 a cooperative.
The fishermen pass on the fishing rights within their families.
The Huber/Maier family's fishing rights go back to 1541.
In 1998, Johann Huber handed over the business to his daughter, the master fisherman Doris Maier.
Their son Martin completed his training as a fish farmer in 2009 and has been a master fish farmer since 2021.
The 35-year-old is about to take over the family business.
During the winter break he works as a restorer.
Tanya Lühr
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