One of the things about having a platform in which to broadcast your food fetishes, likes and dislikes, is that the people who read it know all about the weaknesses in your eating armoury. As any regular or occasional Omnivore reader will know, my two particular Achilles heels are lamb and salmon.
I recently had occasion to eat some very good lamb rack, which may just have gone at least some of the way to curing my aversion. Which leaves salmon as my sole bugbear.
So, when my dear friend Mrs Scheckter, from the marvellous On Trays Food Emporium in Petone calls me at work to enquire whether I will be in at about 4pm, as she has some food to bring to me, there is no possible reason to assume that it may involve my last remaining food frontier.
All day I am tantalised by thoughts of what the "care package" may consist of. Perhaps some cheese. Probably some cheese, I would say, given that cheese is one of the many things that the Scheckters do fabulously well. Some Gorgonzola? Taleggio? Probably.
Or perhaps some jamon iberico, only, probably the bestest, most delicious-est ham in the world. Perhaps they have been oversupplied, and need me to help level out the stocks - a task I am more than capable of assisting them with. I am so distracted by this prospect that I can barely manage my lunchtime nasi lemak.
But no. Ohh, no. Mr Scheckter, in his infinite wisdom, has decided that enough is enough with my salmon-loathing ways, and to remedy this by supplying me with a slab of fish so fresh and pink and perfect that even I, with my nonsensical prejudices and ludicrous rules as to what I do and do not like, could not be so churlish as to rebuff such a magnificent, and generous, and thoughtful gift.
Now I've just got to figure out what to do with it.
I am eating a lot of Asian food at the moment (probably something to do with this) - lots of stir-fries and noodles. Asian food is really good for showing off very fresh, delicate flavours of really top-drawer produce. If I'm going to face my food phobias head on, I'm going to cook it and eat it my way.
I go and pick up some very fresh veges from Cuba Fruit - some broccoli, red pepper, red onion, carrots and yellow courgette - lots of colours and textures, so if I hate the salmon, I can just have a vege stir fry. I chop them into evenly sized pieces, and get to work on a dressing - sesame oil, soy sauce, a garlic clove, a grated finger of ginger, a little brown sugar for sweetness, and some rice wine vinegar to give it a bit of tang.
I heat the wok 'til it is just smoking, add a little oil and stir fry the vegetables until they have just a little give, then set them aside. I soften some of my favourite organic ramen noodles in some boiling water, and heat a tiny swirl of oil in the wok. I fry the portioned salmon with nothing but a grind of pepper and sprinkle of salt - really hot, forming a bit of a crust on the outside and leaving it moist and tender (to the touch) in the middle. I set it aside to rest a little.
I stir some of the dressing through the combined noodles and stirfried veges, and serve it into bowls, setting the salmon atop of the pile of veges and noodles, sprinkling it with a little more soy-sesame dressing and some coriander leaves. It looks appealing, with the colourful veges, and the salmon has some nice caramelisation, and the dressing is perfectly balanced between salty, sour and sweet.
The salmon. It's delicious. It is delicately flavoured, moist, succulent, and has taken on just enough of the flavour of the dressing. The texture works well with the vegetables, and the slight bite of the noodles. Bloody hell - I think I'm cured!
There is, however, the proviso that this is spectacularly good and fresh salmon, so it lacks that gluggy, unctuous quality that inferior quality salmon may have. But for something deliciously fresh, quick and lightly cooked, this is a bit of a revelation.
Thank you, Mr & Mrs Scheck - a quite glorious piece of produce that I felt the same compulsion to do right by as I did my earlier goat leg. And another case of the quality of the produce being all important, similarly the way it was prepared - in a fashion not dissimilar to how I might deal with a piece of pork, chicken or whitefish - made it more palatable than if it were smoked, or poached in a way that would have made it more cooked through.
Very pleasing. I've conquered my fear of lamb, and this is another giant stride in my quest for perfect omnivorousness. Whatever next ?! Insects? Kina?!
What's the best salmon you've ever eaten? And how was it cooked? Have you ever attempted to defeat a food phobia? How did you go about it?
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Definitely cured salmon. Not cooked at all. I do one every Christmas. Pinbone 1 x fillet of salmon. Rub with plenty of salt, a little sugar, some crushed juniper berries, a little pepper and loads of fresh chopped dill. Tightly wrap in clingfilm. place in an oblong dish that fits the salmon nicely. Weigh down with tin food. Put in fridge. Turn over every 24 hours. Ready in 4 days. When ready, unwrap, scrape off the salt and spices, slice very very thinly (you can but knives for this purpose alone, otherwise us one with a long, thing blade). Serve on pumpernickel with dill creme fraiche.
The best salmon I recently tasted was a piece of fresh wild salmon given to me by my son in law. Fried quickly on each side in a hot pan until crispy then into the oven for about 5 mins - simply delicious! and I am not a great salmon lover.
This is timing, last Wednesday I was out on the harbour in the awful weather that Auckland had for an industry event that I had to be at.
The charter boat that we were on served a meal of fresh bread rolls, nice salads, glazed ham and the most awesome hot smoked salmon I have ever tasted. It was marinated in orange and dill and lightly smoked to rare, what a revelation.
That salmon saved the night for me NOM NOM NOM
I like the taste of salmon, but often find it far too rich. My best two salmon dishes are sashimi and one I had at the Curators Lodge (House?) in Christchurch about 10 years ago. It was a small slamon fillet piece, wrapped in a pickled grape vine leaf, baked til almost cooked and served with a dryer than usual potato gratin and salad. AMAZING! 10 years ago, but I still have not forgotten the flavour (or, unfortunately, my first taste of corked wine which accidentally accompanied the meal). Congratulations Jeremy on facing the culinary fears!! Good to hear that the Everests of lamb and salmon have become mere foothills.
Cedar planled salmon at Martin Bosley's. Hands down world's greatest salmon.
Maybe you need to try Akaroa Salmon. Whether fresh or cured, they always have the best tasting salmon NZ has to offer. Try a slice of fresh salmon with a dash of Lot Eight citrus oil and sea salt and the experience may change your view of salmon. Mrs Scheckter will most definitely find you all the mentioned ingredients.
Freshly caught sock-eye salmon with brown sugar, garlic and soy, wrapped in foil and cooked on an open fire on the banks of the Fraser River in BC, Canada. Amaze!
I certainly love asian flavours like that you did with salmon, its a lovely but very rich fish - having those tangy sharp flavours cuts through that richness perfectly
Hurrah !! I was so excited to see the title of your blog!! Sounds like you had a beautiful piece of fish and great you enjoyed it !
I eat salmon at least twice a week and pretty much always cook it the same way, sear it in the pan then pop in the oven for 10mins which gives it a super crispy bottom..I always eat the skin, occassionally I rub some hot cajun spice over it but I love the taste of it so don't want to spoil that.
Hot smoked salmon is a favourite also. I never order salmon when I go out because I have it so much at home & I don't like it too messed with lol
I suppose the only way to conquer a fear of food is to try it and try it in the best possible way.
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