Roadside seafood shacks, mom-and-pop markets, and even gas stations stock smoked fish dip along Florida’s Forgotten Coast, which entails Alligator Point, Apalachicola, Carrabelle, Eastpoint, and St. George Island in Franklin County on the Gulf Coast. Smoked fish dip is a requisite dish on restaurant menus and has been since people first started fishing these waters.
In the mid-20th century, mullet fisheries thrived in Florida. As blanketing summer heat gave way to cooler temperatures, bridges crowded and skiffs dotted the waterways as fishermen with bamboo poles and simple casting nets hauled in the torpedo-like mullet jumping from the water.
Along the Gulf Coast, most homes had homemade smokers in their backyards, and oily fish like mullet made delicious and economical smoked meat. The secret to the deep woody flavor though, lies in the brine. Fishermen butterflied their catch, brined it in salt water, and smoked it for six to eight hours …