A Year in Preserving - Smoked Salmon

It is hard to imagine a time before Smoked Salmon. It is especially hard to imagine Christmas or New Year without this luxury. Yet in the greater history of Christmas joys it is a relative new comer; in its present form it has only been around for a little over 100 years. Whilst fish has been smoked in the UK for many centuries the curing and cold smoking of salmon can trace its origins back to 1905.

Eggs Royale the perfect
Christmas breakfast

During the first decade of the twentieth century, The UK became a place of refuge for those, especially Jews, facing persecution in Eastern Europe. Many settled (as many immigrants did before and after) in the East End of London. One such was a man called Forman. The story goes that this finder of asylum began to smoke salmon and other fish imported form the Baltic. These fish had been transported in salt or brine and were not of the best quality upon their arrival in the docks of the East End. It was only after a visit to Billingsgate Market that Mr Foreman realised that Wild Scottish Salmon was a thing of enormous beauty and was available without weeks of travel. The Formans salted this fish, dried it and then smoked it : The London Cure was born.
Forman's is still going under the fourth generation and without doubt produces a product of superb quality, however, it is perfectly possible to produce smoked salmon at home with some very simple kit.
A couple of years ago I went on a food smoking course a a food school near Milton Keynes called Coldsmoking. (they can be found at coldsmoking.co.uk ) The school is run by an ex fire fighter called Turan, and the day under his instruction was a wonderful way to spend a damp November Saturday. From thence forward I have never bought smoked salmon!

The kit

So how is it done? The only kit required is a, quite inexpensive, smoke creator and a cardboard box (specialist ones are available online but not always necessary).

Ingredients
1 Salmon
Salt

If buying a whole fish make sure it is filleted and pin-boned, if you are unsure about how this is done get you fishmonger to do it for you or simply buy in single fillets.
The salmon should be laid on a tray and sprinkled liberally with salt, concentrating, especially on the thicker parts of the fish. This should then be placed in the fridge loosely covered with baking parchment for 6 to 24 hours depending on the salt you use (more hours if you are using kosher salt or a sea salt like Malden).

Salted and ready for the fridge

After its day in salt the fish should be washed of the salt and thoroughly dried. This is then placed back in the fridge for another 24 hours.
The fish will come out with a slightly sticky surface (a pelicile) and it will be firmer and feel a bit more "meaty". Now is the time to bring on the smoke. The type of wood dust you use is a matter of choice and, to be honest, I'm still experimenting but please buy food grade dust or chips - you don't want chainsaw oil in your burner!

The cook checking for smoke

The box is placed outside, the fish placed on racks within the box and the burner lit. Now its just a matter of time. The shortest I have smoked for is 4 hours but I have gone up to 6.
Then comes the hardest bit of all - The smoked salmon will be so much better 24 to 36 hours after the end of smoking - patience is a richly rewarded virtue in this case!
the easiest and most sensible thin cut is a D cut where you cut the flesh at an angle so as to cut a very thin, broad D. The is, however, a gentleman at Foreman's who can slice with a knife the full length of the fish, thin enough slices to be almost see-through.

D - cut smoked salmon

I have made Smoked salmon for friends, family, and village functions and it always goes down a storm. Unless you are prepared to spend a fortune, you will not be able to match the quality in purchased Smoked Salmon.
Give a man some smoked salmon and he is grateful; teach a man to smoke salmon and he suddenly has a lot of friends!
(Not all the photographs in this blog were taken at the same time)

Smoking!

During November I spent a day at Cold Smoking (Coldsmoking.co.uk) on a food smoking course. Turan, who ran the course was quite simply excellent and his easy engaging style meant that all of us on the course went away feeling not only capable of producing our own smoked food but also enthused and excited about giving it a go. The course was a gift from the Beautiful Wife and as such I was able to save some spending money which I spent on equipment to begin smoking, a kind of cold smoking beginners kit, if you will.
With the last few weeks of Autumn term being so hectic it was only on the 22nd December that I was in a position to begin. A side of Salmon was salted for 6 hours and the dried in the fridge for a further 24. The fish firmed up a bit and developed a feel like sticky latex rubber. I then fired up the smoker and let the wonders of salt, smoke, fish and time do their stuff. I have to confess at this point that I was not expecting any great results from my first try at home; I was working on the basis that anything edible would be a bonus.
After 5 hours I removed the fish and packed all my kit away. Unable to resist, the Beautiful Wife and I carved ourselves the thinnest of slices. It was quite delicious!
A day later and the salmon was even better. Owing to the fact that the fish was salted and not brined there is less of a sense of wetness in the fish and more a feel of fish oil. Probably the best smoked salmon I have ever tasted.
So far a piece has been used for a gift, we used some in our Eggs Royale on Christmas morning and I am looking forward to serving it with scrambled eggs to my mother tomorrow morning!
I cannot recommend the course highly enough, if you think that a home produced luxury product can't match the top commercial brands you are very much mistaken in this case.

Shopping lists

The writing of a shopping list is the single most useful method of reducing your shopping bills. If you plan your meals in advance, and plan your shopping accordingly, you will find that you waste almost nothing, don't grab that nice looking pineapple (or whatever) and also cut down on mid week mini shops. Your final shop before the big day simply must be done from a list or you will come home with 7 tins of Quality Street and several vegetables you can't name.
Whilst you are writing your shopping list for this weekend. Remind yourself to look out for special deals (2 for 1, price reductions and such) on Smoked Salmon. Try to find these on the most ethical of the Salmons though, be aware, this is a mine field! Smoked Salmon freezes beautifully and is capable of turning 3 eggs and a bit of bread into a truly heroic breakfast. Incidentally, if you are planning to have Smoked Salmon and scrambled eggs for your breakfast on Christmas or the new year, go the whole way and make you eggs with double cream, I promise you wont regret it.
The reason for having some in the freezer is the fact that it can be brought bout at any time to make a buffet more impressive, add extra numbers to a starter and generally get you "out of jail" free on any number of occasions. If you don't use it, it can stay in the freezer until you feel the need for some luxury in February!
Whilst you are writing your list, research where your nearest Food Bank is and note down when they take donations, add a couple of packets of pasta to your list, along with some pasta sauces, a few tins of soup and some baked beans (no more than £10). At an appropriate time take these items to the Food Bank. You will have ensured that a child did not go to bed hungry on that day. Whilst we are all celebrating Christmas, and we should celebrate, it is fitting to remember that it is a really hard time of year for some in our society to get enough food to feed their families, and this is a national disgrace.