James Beard's New Fish Cookery - James Beard [59]
The bulk of the salmon eaten in this country now comes from the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and Alaska. There was once a time when salmon was also plentiful along the eastern seaboard, but our forefathers fished the rivers so ruthlessly that the eastern catch has become commercially insignificant. Nearly all eastern salmon offered in the markets comes from Canada’s Atlantic seaboard. In New York especially, smoked Nova Scotia salmon is sold as an expensive delicacy.
The decline of salmon fishing in the East has at least set an example for the West Coast. Eager to prevent its own extinction, the Far West salmon industry has cooperated with the government in efforts to perpetuate the great “runs” of salmon that appear each year in western rivers. The migrations are not as large as they once were, but they are still awe-inspiring spectacles.
The salmon of the North Pacific is basically a saltwater fish. It spends most of its life span in the open sea, then returns unerringly to the freshwater stream where it was born. There it spawns and dies. Its fingerlings migrate again to the sea, renewing a mysterious and fascinating cycle.
The mature salmon is a magnificent fish varying in size from 6 to 60 pounds, or even more. Vigorous and game, it is a spectacular jumper of rapids during its final journey to the spawning ground. It often migrates as far as 200 miles inland. There are several varieties of Pacific salmon — Chinook is perhaps the best known — and the meat varies in color from very pale pink to reddish. Eastern salmon is usually paler than the western salmon found in the markets, and some people contend that its flesh is not so firm.
I was brought up near Astoria, Oregon, the center of the Columbia River fishing industry, and salmon was a steady part of our family diet. We never tired of it. My father, who had been a “covered wagon child” during the pioneer days, used to tell us how the Indians smoked and cured salmon for their winter food — and when I was a child, I too saw them spearing and smoking the salmon. Their recipe was beautifully simple. Having speared the fish, they cleaned it, split it, and put it between the branches of a sapling, often spiraea wood. Then they tied the twigs so as to hold the salmon in a sort of cage of wood. This they hung over the fire and slowly cooked and smoked the fish at the same time. This was known to me, when I was small, as Indian “barbecued” salmon. I can recommend it highly. For sauce, try lemon butter.
For broiling or sautéing, you may buy salmon steaks sized according to the fish. I suggest you have steaks cut 1 to 11/2 inches thick. Some places sell fillets of salmon cut from the tail. For baking or cooking in a court bouillon, the best choice is a center cut or a half or whole fish. In our family we used a baby’s bathtub for cooking any whole salmon that was beyond the size of our fish boiler. If you have a revolving split with your outdoor grill or in front of your fireplace, it is no trick to spit and roast the whole fish. In my opinion, a whole salmon revolving on a spit is a pretty wonderful sight.
Fresh Salmon
BROILED SALMON
Whether this is done over charcoal or in the broiler, the procedure is the same. The fish should be about 4 inches from the heating unit.
Brush the steaks or fillets well with oil and squirt with a little lemon juice. If you like herb flavors, you will find that rosemary, dill, or tarragon are all delicious when cooked with salmon. Rub in a little of the herbs before you oil the fish. Place the fish in an oiled broiling pan that has been preheated and broil according to the Canadian cooking theory (pages 9–10), basting the fish once and turning it halfway through the cooking time. Salt and pepper it and remove it to a hot platter. Serve with plenty of lemon, plain boiled potatoes, and a cucumber salad.
VARIATION
If you prefer a rich sauce