Biloxi has always been a tourist destination. Before air conditioning, people from New Orleans came to the Coast to escape the heat of the city, New Orleans sits in a bowl and does not get the coastal breezes the Mississippi Gulf Coast does. They could catch a ferry from Lake Pontchartrain, come out the Rigolets, then turn east, down the coastline, staying inside the barrier islands. There long piers awaited (because of the shallow water of the Mississippi Sound) that took them to the elaborate hotels that lined the beach. In later years, they took the train, locals nicknamed the “Smoky Mary.”
In the wintertime, people took another train from northern cities to the Coast to escape the harsh winters, staying in grand hotels like the White House, White Pillars and the Biloxi Beach Hotel. The tourist season was a busy few months but the off season could be a difficult time. Until the railroad going north was built, and the invention of ice, shipping seafood was just not feasible, so the seafood industry, which later made Biloxi the seafood capital of the world, was very limited.
The saying in Biloxi used to be that “We live on the tourist in the winter and the mullet in the summer.” Mullet are delicious, fried or smoked, and are easy to catch with a cast net. Seafood shops, like Desporte’s, still almost always have them fresh on ice. Fried mullet is still popular today, but even though I have heard about smoked mullet, the famous Biloxi bacon, since I moved here in 1992, until recently, I never knew anyone who made it. Chef Paoletti is reintroducing this famous recipe at Butcher and Baker on Thorn Ave, in Ocean Springs, and my guess is it’s going to be a hit. It’s not just a matter of putting them in a smoker, the recipe is a bit complicated and to get it right takes some skill.
Split the mullet open, like a book, then brine them for 48 hours (don’t cheat!) in a mixture of water, salt, brown sugar, black pepper, thyme, bay leaf and hot sauce. Dry thoroughly, then smoke for about one hour, using the wood of your choice. Some people like to coat them in a glaze, made of reduced cane syrup, shallots, thyme and black pepper before smoking.
Biloxi bacon is a Gulf Coast classic, and I hope you give it a try, either at home or at Butcher and Baker.