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Strickland's Smoked Fish Dip

Subject: Strickland's smoked fish dip
From: Lauren
Date: 9/15/2020, 12:07 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

On 9/14/2020 10:10 PM, Lauren wrote:

Dear Uncle Phaedrus:

I have been looking for a recipe from a long defunct restaurant in Mayport, Fl 
called Strickland’s of Mayport. The owner died some years ago. The recipe was 
for his smoked fish dip. It’s been many, many years since I had it, but if you 
have any more luck than I did finding it, I would be most appreciative.

My stepmom had told me that she had the recipe for it, but she has the beginnings 
of age related dementia, so, of course, has not been able to locate it. The fact 
that he gave it to her may be suspect, too.

In any event, other than the obvious ingredients (smoked fish, sour cream or 
cream cheese) I have no idea what was in it.

I have googled it and found nothing.  In fact, even looking for smoked fish dip 
usually only gets me smoked salmon.  His used white fish.  I have seen a few 
recipes for smoked fish dip, but they don’t seem right because, one of the main 
flavors I recall is the taste of smoke (maybe from liquid smoke?) that was not 
masked and it was not spicy as many others are.

I am still working on creating a dip that, if it isn’t the same, at least gives 
me the same satisfaction of flavors.  I’ll be more than happy to share it if I 
can perfect it to my liking.

I found the owner’s name from a court case involving a bank from 1984.  It was 
B.J. Strickland, Jr.  In case that helps.

If there is any more information that I haven’t thought to give you that may help, 
let me know.  In the meantime, I, too, will continue to pursue it and let you 
know if I find anything of value.

By the way, the service you provide is really valuable.  In case no one has 
bothered to tell you that.

Thank you for your help,

Lauren

Hi Lauren,

I found a few mentions of Strickland's Restaurants in Mayport and Jacksonville Beach, but only a couple of passing remarks about the smoked fish dip - no recipes and no mention of ingredients. We have a dozen cookbooks of recipes from Florida restaurants, but nothing about Strickland's in any of them. I found quite a few other recipes for smoked fish dip, some using white fish such as amberjack, or "whitefish", etc, but none of them had any connection to Strickland's so I can't recommend one.

I'll post this for reader input.

Phaed

On Wednesday, September 16, 2020, 08:06:24 AM EDT, Lauren wrote:

Thank you for your efforts.  I suspected as much.  I'll keep trying on my own.

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On 9/18/2020 2:25 PM, Lauren wrote:

Found out, from talking to my aunt that it was a smoked mullet dip. She suggested 
I try to get in touch with the Fla Times Union in Jacksonville to see if they have 
a recipe in their archives. I've left a message, which seems to be the only way to 
contact them right now.  Also, there's a lot of stuff on You Tube regarding smoked 
mullet dip, though not related specifically to Strickland's.

Just wanted to let you know how far I've progressed.  I suppose no one else is 
interested in this one, but me.

Thanks,

Lauren