Cooking aboard a trawler is a joy, and can make for some fond memories. Cooking aboard does not need to be canned tuna and sandwiches. Allow me to illustrate how to prepare a gourmet seafood meal that will impress your guests. Planked grilled fish aboard the yacht, the Patricia Ann; it's the talk on the docks these days.

Planked grilled fish or basically cooking on a wooden board is a terrific experience; if you like the taste and smell of smoked meats, this method is for you. This technique is notable as it provides real smoke for flavor. This is particularly good if you are grilling fish fillets, my preference. As a matter of fact, legend has it that this approach to grilling came about as a product of fish cooking experimentation. But I think you could cook any food this method. I like to identify this method as planked grilled fish. Salmon and Mahi cooked on cedar are my favorites. You can obtain the recipes for each of the fish at our recipe page.

So how do you go about it? To start you'll want to acquire some clean cedar timber, Lowes and Home Depot have it in their lumber departments. But you'll have to make it into the right sizes to use. Or you can also buy it ready to make use of at the majority of big grocery chains or order on the internet.

Usually I use cedar, but many woods like oak, maple, cherry or hickory are accessible. Using a clean, untreated section of wood about 1/2 inch thick and long and wide enough to hold the fish fillets, soak the wood in water for several hours before use. I use a piece about 6 x 6 for the two of us. While any wood can be used, just be sure that there are no chemicals on the wood.

When all set, get your gas grill started. I utilize a Magma Catalina gas grill on my boat so I'll explain that procedure. To keep your fish from sticking to the board, coat the fillet with olive oil. You'll do no flipping or turning when plank fish cooking. The fish is cooked indirectly from the bottom up. Season the fish as you like, again check out my recipe page.

As you realize wood burns. We are going to place the board with the fish on the lower grill grate and set the control to high. If you see that the plank is burning while you are grilling, don't worry, it's the method we would like it to cook. Spray it down with water to help extinguish the blaze. But let it burn just a little around the sides; the smoldering of the burnt plank is what produces the smoke and flavors the fish.

I constantly allow about 50% extra food preparation time versus ordinary grilling when I am cooking on a board. For the duration of the grilling time you can baste the fish with herbs if desired.

After the fish is done I remove the fish with a spatula or you can just slide the fish off onto a platter. Turn off the grill and let the used plank sit until later to allow it to cool.

Plank grilling is in reality a wonderful way to grill fish. The smoke supplements the flavors of any fish so feel free to attempt numerous types of fish and wood.