Every spring, for most of the 20th century, all along Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, amateur smelt fishermen would set up 55-gallon steel drums filled with scrap wood, which they’d burn throughout the night. The fishermen were there to catch smelt, a small fish with a funny name that was once abundant — much like perch and other species — in Lake Michigan.
Growing up on Chicago’s Northwest Side, I remember guys walking home, proudly carrying buckets of smelt to feed their families. Now smelt are shipped in from places like Lake Superior and the Atlantic Coast.
We would sometimes have smelt at home; my parents were very fond of them. In the mid-1940s, when my father returned home from World War II after fighting fascists in Africa and Italy, he romanced my mother over a platter of smelt.
Smelt are small fish, found in lakes and oceans. Oddly, it wasn’t until 1912 that smelt appeared in the Great Lakes, having escaped from a Michigan lake where they’d been stocked as forage. Smelt, like salmon and striped bass, are anadromous: born in fresh water, smelt may spend most of their lives in salt water before returning to fresh water to spawn. Their flexibility to live in both fresh and saltwater enables smelt to populate many different bodies of water all over the globe. Today, smelt are found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as lakes and streams in North America, Europe, and Asia.
When I spotted smelt on the menu at Papaspiros on Lake Street, I immediately knew what I was having for dinner. Smelt are usually breaded and fried, easy to eat with the fingers, and that’s how they were prepared at Papaspiros. All they need is a squirt of lemon to cut and balance the fried-ness. With a glass of white wine (recommended: retsina) — delightful.
At Papaspiros, smelt are served with horta, wild greens (many times dandelion greens) that are simply boiled. Much like spinach, horta can have a slight bitterness that complements smelt. At about $18, a deal.
Although smelt in Lake Michigan and other lakes have been found to contain high levels of potentially toxic compounds, Papaspiros sources smelt from the Atlantic, and these little fish provide many health benefits; for instance, they’re rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which helps prevent heart disease and, like many fish, they contain significant levels of protein.
In early spring 2011, I was taping a segment for Chicago Public Radio about the annual smelt festival at Montrose harbor. This traditional gathering of smelt fishers, grilling their catch and drinking a little, was perhaps the last of its kind. After throwing in nets for hours, our catch was a bunch of seaweed, a few bobbers, a flat tire and, as I recall, one smelt. Fortunately, Shaw’s Crab House was kind enough to bring a few big aluminum pans of fried smelt for us to eat on that chilly night.
Alas, smelt are rarely found on restaurant menus … so if you’re game to try them, get thee to Papaspiros.
