Eating My Words, or 'Shut Up and Try the Salmon, Jess!'

Anyone who knows me knows I'm no fan of salmon. There's something about the oil that taints everything you touch when preparing it to the fishy smell of it even when it's cooked that usually just makes me want to run screaming. Everyone from my mother to my chef instructors have told me that it shouldn't smell fishy when it's cooked properly but every time I've tried it it just leaves me cringing. And honestly, it bothers me that I can't get over it because I feel like I need to be able to taste dishes I'm cooking for others objectively and I haven't been able to do that yet regarding salmon.

Today I had a revelation. A salmon eureka. We had a guest speaker today at school; Rick Oltman, the owner of Cape Cleare Fishery came in to speak to us about sustainable fishing practices and he brought with him a 12-ish pound silver salmon for us to break down and work with. He also brought a 5 lb smoked salmon. The difference, I discovered, is all in the way the fish has been handled.

Rick and his crew catch each salmon individually hook-and-line, gut, bleed and take the fish down to -40 Fahrenheit within half an hour to 45 minutes of bringing it over the side of the boat. Once it's frozen, they dip it into extremely cold sea water, which forms a protective glaze over the entire fish which prevents the cold, dry air of the freezer from sucking the moisture out of the fish while at sea. Also, by taking it down to temp so quickly, the cell walls don't rupture, the flavor isn't lost, the gorgeous color is preserved and the end result, in today's case, was a salmon that was frozen two years ago blowing a market-fresh salmon out of the water, pardon the pun.

We broke the salmon down, practiced removing pinbones and then we cooked a couple small pieces, seasoned with just salt and pepper. It was seriously epic. There was no fishy taste, just a really moist, lightly-seasoned bite of what salmon should taste like. Chef Kären explained that it was all because of the way the fish was handled before it was frozen. Fisheries can say their product was "frozen at sea", but that usually means it's been tossed in a boat's hold and frozen on shore.

The smoked salmon was equally delicious; it was also a two year old salmon that Rick had thawed and alderwood-smoked. The only way it would've been better is if I had a bagel and some cream cheese to go with it.

Long story short, it was a revelation and I am merrily going make my way to the Ballard Farmer's Market where Rick bicycles to every weekend with his product in cooler trailers and pick up some of his smoked salmon! In this case, I was happy to be proved wrong, and when I'm in a position to make purchasing decisions in the future, I will definitely be giving Rick Oltman my business.

Photograph © Tim Giraudier