Smoking the *@!! out of Wild Salmon

With all this lovely fresh wild salmon being bandied about in BC, many of the chefs guesting at the supper club have been smoking up a storm. Here are some tips on how to make you own lightly smoked salmon as a main.

Buying the fish
Your smoked salmon is only as good as the fish itself, you can't fake freshness. Frozen is fine to buy though. Just make sure you bring the frozen fish back to room temperature slowly, run some cold water over it first and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to defrost. The meat will stay firm this way. Fresh fish is best though, for texture. In Vancouver, buy it at Stevenson Warf or at Granville Island right off the docks for the best price and quality. Organic Ocean is a great boat at Fishermans Warf, call them to check what time they will be at the dock. (604) 862-7192
If you have to buy it from a fish shop, make sure you smell the fish to make sure it doesn't smell fishy... sounds weird, I know. I never buy farmed salmon... it tastes like crap.

Preparing the fish
Here's a video on one way to fillet a salmon if you want to learn, otherwise, buy fillets. For this recipe, take the skin off the fillets and remove any pin bones with tweezers.

Curing the fish
Let the fillets sit at room temperature for a couple of hours covered well in a 50/50 mix of kosher salt and sugar, you can add other ingredients (cilantro, parsley, onion) as well to the mix. Don't cure or brine in metal dishes ever. Have fun experimenting. Rinse the mix off the fish and pat dry after. Air dry for 30 min.


Smoking the fish
1. Let's talk about wood first - hardwood is what you want for smoking. Fruit tree wood is the best, also, alder, maple or oak. Hickory and mesquite flavour is too strong for salmon. Soak the wood chips or small pieces for 1 hour in water before using.

2. Generally, you need to build a fire in one side of your BBQ with charcoal or wood. Wait till it produces good coals. Put the wet chips on the coals to get them smoking, then add the fish on the other side of the BBQ - so that it smokes, but only cooks minimally. Position the grill as far away from the flames as possible. Close the lid and let the smoke do it's work.

3. Leave the fish on for 15-40 minutes, depending on how much smoke flavour you want and how hot your fire is. Flip the fish at around the half time mark. Taste the fish at intervals to check the level of smoke flavour. Once you've reached the desired smoke level, remove the fish and finish cooking in the oven if necessary. Cook at 350F covered with foil until the fish is ready to eat at 140F, check with a meat thermometer (should be only a few minutes).

Tips for the truly dedicated smoker: Look on craigslist for "free fire wood", often you will find lots of fruit woods there (you have to season it then though - let it dry).
Buy a real smoker - with a separate smoke compartment away from the fire.

I heart Salmon

Wild salmon is a fish that represents my province; I feel patriotic in British Columbia, Canada about a fish, ha. A bald eagle fighting a grizzly bear for a juicy, big salmon, viola, the essence of the west coast. I also feel strongly that it is a mighty tasty treat. If in doubt, proceed to 'Go Fish', a take out stand near Granville Island, and have the salmon wrap. Guaranteed, you will love the pink little buggers too. Until recently, I've enjoyed salmon when ever I pleased, avoiding the farmed stuff, cause it tastes like cat food. In the last year, I've been made aware of the Northwest salmon crisis which stretches from BC to California. Stocks of wild salmon in BC are down 9 million from what they once were. 9 MILLION fish are gone, holy shit, that's a lot of fish. So, because I love salmon, I'm going to do two things; get some information out there about the issue and, sigh, eat less salmon. No more big steaks on the BBQ with lemon, dill and butter for me. Sad times. I know we all usually like to motor on and hope that eventually things will go back to normal if we just whistle loud enough, but realistically, that just doesn't work. Sorry. Though we aren't the main problem in reduced fish numbers if we don't minimize our consumption of them, they will go the way of the east coast cod and be gone forever.

From the New York Times: Dave Bitts, a fisherman based in Eureka in Northern California, sees the variables as simple. “To survive, there are two things a salmon needs,” he said. “To eat. And not to be eaten.”

So what's happening to them?
It's not overfishing this time, there are fishing closures all the way to California. No one seems to know definitively, but scientists are pointing to several factors...

1. Starvation - global climate change - the ocean is a lot warmer so the currents that usually lift salmon food like plankton and krill are off timed. Or some sources say that the temperatures have killed off a lot of plankton... result... less food for our salmon buddies.

2. Can't make it to the sea - We screw with our rivers too much, dams, agriculture diversions of water, pollution, all have a huge impact on salmon.

3. Disease - Farmed salmon in open net systems that allow sea lice to spread to wild salmon populations. The Norwegians and our own governments are to blame. Solution - just don't eat farmed salmon.

Our salmon are a barometer of the health of North America. That seems like a sweeping, patchouli infused statement, but let me explain. Take the Columbia River, together with its two main tributaries, the Snake and the Yakima rivers, it drains into 260,000 square miles in western Canada and the United States(data from source below). This area is equivalent in size to western Europe. All of these lovely waters pass through many logging and agricultural zones on its way out to the Pacific Ocean. Our salmon spawn at the start of these rivers and then travel all the way through our lands to the massive Pacific Ocean. Run off caused by logging filters into our rivers and destroys spawning beds, dams block the salmon run, pesticides from farming drain into the waters and are absorbed by the river life. Everything we do to our water across cultures and borders affects these salmon, our cultural symbol of bounty and life. That's right, big words for big issues. The west coast salmon is a major link in our food chain, stunning creatures like bears, whales and eagles depend on them to live. The equation is bears - salmon = starving bears = badness. Humans are lucky, we are the worlds most amazing omnivors, we can survive without salmon. However, we may be a decisive factor in our own demise through breaking down essential links in our overall food chain.

The simple thing you can do is eat less or no salmon. The more complex thing you can do is research the issue yourself and then eat responsibly.


Amazing article on the salmon crisis...
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FRO/is_n3_v130/ai_19421844/

More excellent sources...
http://www.huffstrategy.com/MediaManager/release/Pure-Salmon-Campaign/17-8-09/Open-letter-to-King-of-Norway-to-stop-the-killing-of-wild-fish-by/1680.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/science/earth/17salmon.html?_r=1&fta=y
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=e2a38098-2d36-4070-9b80-ffc4799d319b

BC vs Washington Merlot Battle

I'm part of a wine club, I know that sounds super snobby. We meet once a month at a member's house to redden our teeth and liven our spirits. Last month's challenge was to find the best of BC and set them against the best of Washington, both areas reputed world wide to have respectable merlots. If you are ever looking for something to serve with a full flavoured merlot, I made a salmon wellington topped with a merlot reduction and they were consumed rapidly. Here was the line up:

Washington
1. The Hogue(2004) - Signature BCLC(41st Ave) - $14
2. Columbia Crest(2005) - Signature BCLC(41st Ave)- $22
3. Holy Cow(2006) - Brewery Creek Liquor Store - $30

BC
1. Therapy Vineyards(2006) - Firefly - $44
2. Nk Mip Vineyards(2006) - Signature BCLC(41st Ave) - $25
3. Cedar Creek(2006) - Signature BCLC(41st Ave) - $25

We tried two excellent Cab/Merlot blends as well;
1. Super Ego, Therapy Vineyards - BC - Firefly - $44
2. The Hogue(2004) - Washington - Signature BCLC(41st Ave) - $14

Every single one of these wines was really yummy. The interesting thing about Washington merlots is that they pack a surprising punch both in flavour profile and body, moving toward cabernet sauvignon territory. If you are ever in Columbia Valley, Yakima(WA), head for a winery called 2 Mountains and you will experience that bold merlot in spades. BC tends towards more finesse and displays the medium body that is typical of cooler climate viticulture. Therapy vineyards continues to make some of the best BC reds around despite their branding which drives me mad. The pricing on their wines is very prohibitive which is unfortunate. Their super ego, Bordeaux blend, is probably one of my favourite BC reds, buy it for a special occasion.

And now you want to know the winner, if I've kept you reading this long. Well, value for dollar went, hands down, to The Hogue with its chocolate, cherry overtones. It is a new world merlot fit to drink all by itself. But for the best food pairing, Cedar Creek wins the fight, cutting nicely through the rich pastry and buttery salmon with its spicy, cherry oak.