Bobby and his wife, Rocio, were both dentists. One day Rocio suggested to Bobby that he should go out and enjoy more time fishing on his boat. Rocio did not have to suggest this a second time because Bobby was on his boat shortly after. As luck would have it, he was catching king fish and would take it home to make the smoked fish dip recipes he and Kip would talk about during their FaceTime sessions. Bobby ended up making more dip than he could consume so he brought the dip to his friends at gatherings and to the cigar bars. It became such a routine that on the days he didn’t show up with the dip, his friends would pester him as to why he showed up empty-handed.

Bobby began producing his smoked fish dip on the weekends and would post to his Facebook page that he would have containers of it at his dental office on Monday morning. To his surprise, on Monday morning he had a line in front of the door of his dental practice and ended up selling out of dip by noon.

In October 2019, Bobby’s brother and sister-in-law, Morris and Debbie Singer, moved down to Florida from New York and Bobby suggested that Morris help him with the fish dip business. They worked on the recipe to make it easier to produce in large quantities while maintaining superior quality. Combining brined and smoked premium fish with fresh ingredients gave them consistently delicious batches and they received phenomenal feedback from their customers.

One month later, Bobby and Morris debuted the products at the Festival of Chefs, an Easterseals of South Florida fundraiser. Surrounded by Miami’s top chefs, their simple setup was just saltines and bags full of fish dip. However, they could not plate the fish dip fast enough for the demand! The feedback and praise from the attendees (including Chad Milam) and chefs solidified their decision to turn their smoked fish dip side business into a real company.

The Singers formed their corporation, What Are We Smokin’?, that same month of the fundraiser and got all of the licensing, certifications, and commercial kitchen lease in March 2020. Kip and his wife, Debbie, would drive across the state to help Morris, Bobby, and their wives make the fish dip during their late hour shifts at the leased kitchen. When the pandemic hit shortly after, the kitchen space they were using was producing meals for hospitals and nursing homes, so it remained opened. This allowed the What Are We Smokin’? team to continue producing product and using contactless delivery to get it to their customers.

By the summer of 2020, the Singer’s needed more space to keep up with their customer’s needs so they invested in their very own kitchen in West Kendall. Morris and his wife, Debbie, run the kitchen where they brine and smoke Mahi, Wahoo, and Swordfish, and then craft the dip. Bobby and Rocio run the markets on the weekends and supply the numerous retailers and restaurants stocking their product.

You can find the delicious assortment of What Are We Smokin’? dips at all Milam’s Market locations near the seafood counter. Our family at Milam’s hopes you enjoy the local flavor and superior quality of this community favorite dip that the Singer family crafts!

Want to add a little something extra to the dip experience? Try it hot with some melted parmesan cheese on top!