ISO smoked salmon in the mainstream grocery store

[gfweb]

32 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

I am not sure about smoked.

I think sweet or hot paprika could work depending on what wine will be served...seeing it’s a special occasion I presume bubbly which would go with the addition of a little sweet paprika.

I’ll experiment with my next batch and report back. 

[Darienne]

So here is some of my completed gravlax.  Does it look as if it's in the correct range?  I had trouble getting the crushed bits off it.  I did taste a bit but I feel sort of reluctant to "dig in" some way which I don't understand.  

 

Any thoughts?  

 

 

[Darienne]

OK.  Back again.  Ed tried it...reluctantly...and didn't like it at all.  I didn't think he would and he didn't.  So it's all mine.

 

I really tasted it this time.  In fact, I ate a goodly amount of it.  Loved it.  Delicious.

 

Now how long will it last and how do I store it?  I'll check online also, but of course, mine has no preservatives in it.  Oh, and how might I eat it?  On crackers?  Not keen on the mustard sauce bit I have to say.

 

Thanks as always. 

 

Three weeks in the fridge properly wrapped.  Freezes well.  Good with crackers.  Might try the sauce after all.  Sorry to be a bit of a nuisance.  It's hard for me to work with something when Ed feels strongly negative about it.  Just life as it is.

Edited January 27, 2019 by Darienne (log)

[Nyleve Baar]

No nuisance at all!

 

Yeah if your guy doesn't like smoked salmon, he won't like this. Texture is similar - not cooked, just cured. Some people just can't deal with that. If you don't like the mustard sauce just eat it however you like it! I personally am not crazy about mustard but I do like the sauce - it's like a slightly mustardy mayo, but with no egg. Your photo looks good - when I make it, I slice very very thinly diagonally across the grain to serve. It's excellent on any good bread - baguette or thinly sliced grainy stuff.

 

So glad it worked out for you (more or less). Happy Anniversary!

[Okanagancook]

1 hour ago, Nyleve Baar said:

No nuisance at all!

 

Yeah if your guy doesn't like smoked salmon, he won't like this. Texture is similar - not cooked, just cured. Some people just can't deal with that. If you don't like the mustard sauce just eat it however you like it! I personally am not crazy about mustard but I do like the sauce - it's like a slightly mustardy mayo, but with no egg. Your photo looks good - when I make it, I slice very very thinly diagonally across the grain to serve. It's excellent on any good bread - baguette or thinly sliced grainy stuff.

 

So glad it worked out for you (more or less). Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary also.  I am also happy you like it.  We like it thinly sliced served with good bread or nice crackers. 

[Darienne]

Thanks Nyleve and Okanagancook.  

 

We have overnight visitors at least once a month (Anna and I work with gourds) who have strong European backgrounds, one from Slovenia and one with Latvian parents who built a smoker in their backyard.  Their responses should be useful.   I'll freeze some for their next visit.  

 

 

Edited January 27, 2019 by Darienne (log)

[Darienne]

On 1/27/2019 at 1:06 PM, Darienne said:

Thanks Nyleve and Okanagancook.  

 

We have overnight visitors at least once a month (Anna and I work with gourds) who have strong European backgrounds, one from Slovenia and one with Latvian parents who built a smoker in their backyard.  Their responses should be useful.   I'll freeze some for their next visit.  

 

 

 

Too late.  I have eaten it all.  Delicious.  Thanks so much for all the help.

 

I'll have to make some more. 

[TicTac]

Hard to tell by the pic, but the salmon looks oddly opaque, for some reason.

 

Gravlax should be shiny and almost translucent - could be a bad picture...

 

My recipe is slightly different, I keep it simple and just use loads of salt/brown sugar/fresh ground pepper.  No measurements, but enough to seriously coat a half side of salmon.  I will then chop up a ton of Dill and put that over, then douse it a bit with either vodka or gin (I used Aquavit for my last batch which turned out great).  Wrap and put a good flat stone and then weight it down, flipping once over 2-3 days in the fridge.

 

My latest batch I did a 'double cure' - after 2 days I washed off the curing items, and re-applied a second batch (less on the salt this time) and it came out unreal - my yard stick is a place we used to go to in NYC called the "Caviartaria" which did unreal gravlax.

 

I would omit the mustard powder, for sure.

 

Lastly, re your smoked salmon request - give City Fish a call and see if they will ship you some of their Vodka smoked salmon (they sell it frozen) it is unreal.  Far better than Kristapsons.

 

 

 

[Darienne]

20 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Hard to tell by the pic, but the salmon looks oddly opaque, for some reason.

 

Gravlax should be shiny and almost translucent - could be a bad picture...

 

About City Fish...where is it?  Canada?  The USA?  NYC?  I suspect the cost would be out of our snack bracket.

 

As for my opaque salmon...As noted at the start, I know nothing about gravlax and have never seen it.  Nor am I an expert photographer.  Mostly just point and click and record.   I did Google "gravlax is opaque" and came up with the following...
 

"Home Cured Gravlax. ... Once every 12 hours or so, open the curing salmon package and baste with the accumulating juices, then re-wrap and weigh down. After 2 to 3 days, you'll see that the flesh is becoming a bit opaque.   Aquavit Gravlax - - Surdyk's  https://surdyks.com/aquavit-gravlax/  "

 

All I  do know is that the salmon was delicious and I loved every bite.   Thanks for the help. 

[gfweb]

I agree with @TicTac ,my gravlax is not so opaque.  I start with the back end of a filet typically, after I've portioned out dinner-sized filets.  Coat it with salt and sugar until it can hold no more...some dill...then into a ziploc and compress with another plate and a big can of Cento San Marzano tomatoes. Must be Cento.  Two or three days later its gravlax.  Looks like the nova you get at the deli.

Edited February 1, 2019 by gfweb (log)

[Darienne]

10 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I agree with @TicTac ,my gravlax is not so opaque.  I start with the back end of a filet typically, after I've portioned out dinner-sized filets.  Coat it with salt and sugar until it can hold no more...some dill...then into a ziploc and compress with another plate and a big can of Cento roma tomatoes. Must be Cento.  Two or three days later its gravlax.  Looks like the nova you get at the deli.

Forgot to mention...I went to "gravlax" images and found many of them looked very opaque.  Mine must have been acceptable I think.  I ate it all, loved it and I didn't get sick.

 

As for Cento tomatoes...I've never seen them in Canada although they might well be here.  What I used for a weight is one of the extra ancient bricks from our more than a century old farmhouse...a two-story Regency.   

I'll try it again.

 

[TicTac]

Not meant to be a negative post at all, I just wanted to ensure you were safe!

 

Here is a shot of our New Years spread - on the plate in the upper right you will see both Vodka Smoked salmon from City Fish (lower part of that plate) and my home made gravlax - the smoked salmon is far more opaque than the gravlax is.

 

 

It could also be as noted, the image itself.

 

Re: City Fish - they are in Toronto, at Dufferin and Lawrence.  The most unreal smoked salmon I have had!

 

Re the quote above " Home Cured Gravlax. ... Once every 12 hours or so, open the curing salmon package and baste with the accumulating juices, then re-wrap and weigh down. After 2 to 3 days, you'll see that the flesh is becoming a bit opaque " I would have to disagree with this.  In fact the idea does not appeal at all...the juices are essentially what the salt and sugar have extracted from the salmon - not something I would enjoy consuming (hence why I rinse the fish between re-brining and prior to serving).  The flesh should become shiny, and when thinly sliced almost translucent.

 

 

[Okanagancook]

6 minutes ago, TicTac said:

The flesh should become shiny, and when thinly sliced almost translucent.

That's what mine looks like too.  I don't have any pictures.

[Nyleve Baar]

Tic Tac - I've been to City FIsh many times but not recently and I've never had their smoked salmon. Next time I'm in that area I will pick some up for sure. It's near enough to Grande Cheese, which is where I sometimes stock up on Italian essentials. Thanks!

[Darienne]

I had not sliced any of the gravlax at that point.  That might have made a difference?

I never did open my package, just turned it over and over.  I was simply quoting something supporting my less than translucent product.   As noted I had never seen gravlax nor tasted it.  Deprived childhood I guess...

 

Thanks again for all the help.  

[Nyleve Baar]

I have no idea about translucent or not. If it's sliced thinly, which you had not yet done in the picture, it may very well have been more translucent looking. It may also have something to do with the specific salmon piece. I really don't think it would make any difference in the final product.think your gravlax looks great and glad you pushed yourself to make it!

[TicTac]

I think it has to do with salmon (why did they start out at such sizes?) itself and items used for cure.

 

Next time, try to get either wild or 'sushi grade' salmon (City Fish is where I get the raw salmon from as well) and keep it simple - use copious amounts of salt, brown sugar, peppers, and I would suggest Dill (other herbs are too strong).  A splash of vodka/gin works well too. 

 

If either of you do end up at City Fish, the smoked trout is also excellent, as are their frozen Argentinian prawns (far superior to anything else I have tried).