White Salmon

[Damian]

My wife and I had the pleasure of dining at Blue Hill not long ago and had a great experience with the tasting menu. One of the dishes particularly stood out, White King Salmon with morels, pickled ramps,and a ramp sauce. I had never seen nor tried white salmon before and found it to be very delicately flavored (not as gamey as regular salmon) with a silken texture. How did you come upon this ingredient and where is it from? What about it do you particularly like?

Incidentally, other highlights for us (the whole meal was good) were the amuse of asparagus soup with pistachio and mint for its unique flavor combination, and that fantasitc bread pudding dessert.

[bluehill]

Thank you Damian for the kind words about your food experience here at the restaurant. I'm especially excited about your love of the white salmon, a favorite of mine as well. It's wild salmon first and foremost, and perhaps that's half your enjoyment if you haven't experienced the luscious, fatty flavor of the real thing before. (90% of the salmon served and sold is farm raised--the difference is dramatic for several reasons, and the main one is economics: farm raised fish have very controlled diets, live in tight spaces and are housed by companies that are looking to make a profit. This is not, of course, the recipe for success as good food and large coporations rarely share the same home).

So with white salmon, aside from being wild, it's naturally a much fattier fish, and the fat content gives it that unctuous flavor. It's from the Copper River, and it runs mostly in the Spring and Summer. White salmon, or albino salmon, are simply freaks of nature, and they're impossible to distinguish until you fillet them. Thank you for the encouragement.

Dan Barber

[Bux]

Dan,

If you don't mind taking follow up questions, is there any difference in taste between white Copper River salmon and salmon colored Copper River salmon? Would a savvy diner with an educated palate be able to taste the difference blind folded? Do you pay a premium price for either? I mean in comparison to each other. I understand wild salmon is going to bring a better price than farm raised.

[cabrales]

Dan & Mike -- On non-white Copper River salmon, could you discuss why you might prefer sockeye over king (or vice versa)?

One Iron Chef episode addressed "juvenile" salmon specific to Hokkaido, Japan. In view of your utilization of baby beef, have you considered using "younger" fish or flesh from "younger" animals?

http://www.ironchef.com/98/98_e33.shtml

[bluehill]

There's a big difference between white Copper river and the red, and yes, I think you could taste the difference blindfolded if you concentrated on fat content--the white salmon is clearly much greater.

As for Cabrales, I doubt I would ever want to go after young wild salmon. Besides being a danger to the species, you're paying for the fat, and younger salmon have had less time to develop fat and flavor.