Alaskan Smoked Salmon - Splendid Gift from the Sea

Salmon have been abundant in Alaskan waters for thousands of years and remain so today, while American Atlantic waters have been sorely impacted by overfishing. Salmon was so frequently on the menu in early New England that indentured servants insisted on a clause in their contracts limiting salmon to one meal a week. Then in the nineteenth century most commercial salmon came from the Atlantic. It was canned in New England and shipped to California beginning in 1840. By 1864 the process was reversed, with canned salmon produced in California and sent east.

A majority of salmon today (around 70%) are not even fished anymore, they are farmed on fish farms. Alaskan Salmon is a prime exception though. They live freely in the Pacific Ocean until the time they decide to return to the rivers of Alaska where they were conceived.

Alaskans highly praise the value of the Salmons orange-red flesh and thought that any form of disrespect shown to these fish would cause Sea Gods to take the salmon away.

Without the salmon not only the people and animals would suffer, but the land as well. When salmon return from the sea they bring back nitrogen so that the trees and plants thrive, benefitting the herbivores also. The best way to honor this salmon gift from the gods is to take only what is needed and use all that is taken. So it was vital to develop a way to store the salmon caught during their breeding runs back up their natal rivers. That is where Alaskan Smoked Salmon comes in.

Smokers will blend different types of wood, the period of time used to smoke, and temperatures to obtain the best tasting fish. Specific woods offered certain flavors to the fish, Alder would give one taste, apple another, and cedar for a third. The time spent smoking the fish affects the flavor as well, and hot smoking produces a more powerful smoke flavor and a much drier fish. Cold smoking will offer a weaker smoked flavor and a more oilier or soft texture.

Cures are categorized in two fields, wet and dry. Wet cures require the meat to be soaked in a brine solution which can contain pepper, sugar, salt, and other spices. The dry variety of curing is typically to produce cured only fish and contains a mix of herbs or fruit, seat salt, and sugar.

Another important fact that must be taken into count while smoking fish is the actually species of salmon. There are actually give different species of salmon which exist in Alaskan waters, and each offers a different taste in the combination of cures and smoking.

Today shoppers can easily find smoked salmon in their local supermarket. This is usually cold-smoked farm-raised fish. But the true connoisseur will look to Alaskan Smoked Salmon. The combination of brine recipes, the woods used in the smoking process, the different temperatures in the smokehouse, the species and the wild origin of the salmon produces an array of magnificent flavors that rival the vintages of fine wine.

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