Didn’t feel like eating dinner at camp. Door County is loaded with local restaurants and I highly recommend you give the local fare a try. Tonight I ended up at Pelletier’s Restaurant & Fish Boil because it’s right near the park entrance and because I had no idea what a fish boil is but desperately wanted to find out.
Here’s the boil cauldron, a wood fire underneath a giant kettle. As is customary, as soon as I stood at this spot the wind shifted and the smoke was blowing directly at me. Every. Single. Time. The laws of nature baffle me.
After moving around to the opposite side of the chained off area I was in the clear. Here you can see the fire is just on the back patio of the restaurant. Nobody is really here yet but that will change in a matter of minutes.
Here is the boil basket that gets dipped into the cauldron. Fresh caught lake whitefish cut into big chunks fill it enough to feed quite a few people. I would guess around 50 people or more joined in for this round.
The dinner crowd slowly started to file in for the show and I realized I am probably the youngest person here by a good margin. Will they notice? Can I get away with blending in?
As our chef and lead pyrotechnician prepared his fuel can, he also explained the kettle has 10 pounds of salt in it which helps the fish stay firm for flavor. And then he pitched in a quart of diesel which turned this calm scene…
Into a giant fireball that quickly boils over the water that is cooking the fish. My eyebrows are very thankful I moved from my previous spot where I got smoked out because I would’ve been engulfed in the flames had I stayed there.
As the flames tame back down again there is a bit of environmental pollution going on, but also the fish pot is boiling over which is their trademark attraction.
Moments later the two gentlemen use a long metal rod to lift the cooking basket from the water and carry it off to the side to drain.
The cook post is then filled back up with a bucket of water to return the level back to the top, and then a different basket with potatoes is dipped in to cook for just a couple of minutes.
Watching the potatoes boil was less exciting so they brought us inside and seated everyone to prepare to be served. Here’s the end result – a Door County boiled whitefish dinner and a tasty tap beer to wash it down. Honestly not too bad but a bit bland on seasoning (which may be by design for the typical customer demographics). Was worth a try and no regrets, stop by and experience it for yourself if you visit the area!
