Sockeye

Mrs S and I have taken advantage of the current glut of Sockeye Salmon by stocking up the freezer. The "Fish farms are bad" lobby has temporarily been silenced. This massive run after several lean years has shouted that perhaps the issue is more complex than mere campaigners would have us believe. Questions are being asked about how vociferous advocacy groups have been allowed to sway fisheries policy.

Regardless of that; one of the things I noticed last night when serving a plateful for supper was the difference between a Coho or Pink, or even Russian Sockeye and the local stuff. It's like the difference between cotton and silk. Cotton is fine, but silk is wonderful, and fresh Sockeye has an almost silken texture as well as a richer, rounder flavour.

When I was a boy, canned red salmon sandwiches were a favourite treat for Sunday tea, dressed with malt vinegar and black pepper. When I could buy up a few cans I would, especially when there was a deal in the supermarket. Yet the canned stuff is a mere shadow of the fresh or smoked alternatives. Now I'm learning the difference between Salmon farmed and wild, fresh and frozen, and the textures and flavours are like a musical scale. Each having their own high points. Yet across the scale, fresh BC Sockeye Salmon beats them all.