A 20-ounce hot-smoked salmon fillet from Kasilof. It’s also kosher-certified. Read our review.
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KAREN HOCHMAN is Editorial Director of THE NIBBLE.
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March 2007
Updated September 2009
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The Different Types Of Smoked Salmon
Page 4: Hot Smoked Salmon Glossary
Hot smoked salmon requires no refrigeration and can be kept in the pantry for five years, at the ready for hors d’oeuvres, pasta, salads and more. This is Page 4 of a four-page article. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.
Types Of Hot Smoked Salmon
Most hot-smoked salmons are offered “plain”—i.e., cooked and packaged, ready-to-eat. These are specialty sub-categories of hot-smoked:
- Flavored Hot-Smoked Salmon is made by artisan producers that flavor the fish with pastrami spices, regional flavors (Southwestern, Thai Chili, Ginger Soy), etc.
- Kippered Salmon soaks the salmon in mild brine before hot-smoking. In America, it is usually made from chinook salmon fillet that has been dyed red. In Europe, a whole salmon is generally split before being brined and hot-smoked.
- Squaw Candy or Candy Salmon (which, due to political correctness, is now called Indian Hard Smoked Salmon by some, but not Native American Hard Smoked Salmon) is thin strips of salmon that have been cured in a salt-sugar brine before being hot-smoked until they become jerky-like. Depending on the producer, they can be very sweet.
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Kippered salmon from Zabars.com.
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- Wood-Smoked Salmon will emphasize a specific wood in the flavor—alder or maple, e.g.— that imparts particular flavor notes to the fish.
Become A Smoked Salmon Expert
The only way to make sense of the category is to start tasting, preferably side-by-side. Have a smoked salmon tasting lunch or brunch: buy some of each and compare. You don’t need bagelsl; in fact, the bread and cream cheese get in the way of tasting the salmon, although you can have them on the side to enjoy the “leftovers” after the serious tasting is complete.
- Eat the salmon slices straight from the plate with a fork. See the garnishes below.
- Once you decide what you like, write it down—they sound so similar, it’s easy to forget.
Smoked Salmon Garnishes
At the finest restaurants, a plate of smoked salmon (generally Scottish) is served as a first course at lunch, dinner or brunch with a sprinkling of dill and capers, a lemon wedge and some crème fraîche. It pairs wonderfully with Champagne, Chablis or any crisp white wine. One of our favorite impressive-but-easy first courses is:
- Blini or potato pancake with smoked salmon, crème fraîche
and a dab of whitefish caviar on top
Here’s a garnish checklist for your own service, which can be a formal first course or casual meal or snack (who can resist a breakfast bagel?):
| Produce |
Breads & Spreads |
- Capers or caperberries
- Fresh dill, snipped or fronds
- Lemon or lime wedges
- Sweet onion or red onion, finely
chopped
- Tomatoes—sliced for breads, or
grape tomatoes for garnish
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