skipjack tuna that is washed, quartered smoked with oak, pasania, or castanopsis wood, and cooled repeatedly for a month. Some producers will spray the fish with Aspergillus glaucus to promote further drying. After one to 24 months the fish will be katsu (hard) and ready for use. To make bonito flakes it is shaved very thin using a Katsuobushi grater box. Pastrami Pastrami is most often made with beef brisket; it can be made with other cuts of beef. The meat is cured in a brine (most often dry), after drying, it is coated in spices and smoked. Smoking can be done by either cold smoking or hot smoking. Pastrami evolved from the Turkish Huns who would tenderize and dry meat under their saddles. Armenians saw what the Huns had done and created basturma that was spiced and air-dried meat. Romanians first started brining, spicing, and smoking the beef and created what is now called pastrami. When Romanian Jews immigrated to the United States, Canada, and Great Britain in the late 1800s, they carried that tradition of pastrami with them. The Romanians that immigrated to the United States, mostly settled in New York City area and developed the classic New York Pastrami. Those that immigrated to Canada mostly settled in Montreal used a different brining technique and spices and called it smoked meat. Pastrami is still produced in Southwest Asia and the Middle East and is called Pastirma, basterma or basturma. While customarily made with beef, in other regions it can be made with lamb, goat, buffalo, and camel. Corned or salt beef uses a similar brine and spices, but is not smoked. Zhangcha duck Zhangcha duck is a dish from Sichuan Province in southwestern China made from the Chengdu Ma duck. The duck is marinated in a pickling liquid then smoked with camphor and tea leaves. After smoking, the duck is deep fried, boned and served over rice. Health concerns One study has shown an association between the frequency of consumption of smoked foods and intestinal cancer. However, the study was restricted to a small Slovenian population in Hungary, where the local smoke curing process produces levels of contaminants roughly eight times as high as standard processes elsewhere. Smoked meats have the potential for promoting the growth of Listeria bacteria. Listeria monocytogenes can also cause serious neonatal infection and can be transmitted from mother to child before or after