Foghat....

The annual family charter fishing excursion yielded the usual bounty of oceanic delights, and then some. This year, aside from the standard pacific northwest salmon species selection ("all my ho's are coho's"), I was able to capitalize on the seizure of two apparently less desirable denizens of the depths: the delectable Humboldt squid, and my new homie the mackerel. No one on the boat wanted either of these tasty fellows, but I spoke up to claim them, with delicious results. I still secured a sea lion's share of the salmon (or, my legal quota of two per person per day), and even left with an enormous bag of freshly filleted rockfish, but the highlight was the satisfaction of driving home with 10 lbs of unexpected, impossibly fresh calamari after what always proves as a grueling, rainy few days on the sea. A few days on the water relaxing with such intensity can strip a lesser man of his will power, his sobriety, his stomach. But, I beat on ceaselessly against the tides, much like the another northwest icon, the grizzled Gorton's fish-stick guy. Alas, the battle of Who's More Grizzled is always lost.

I bought a smoker before I made it home, to save my uncle the trouble of smoking my salmon, and mailing it back to me. It was beginning to seem inefficient and burdensome, and it put me two weeks out from savoring the many fish I had hooked, fought, gaffed, mugged, beaten, cajoled, placated, cheated, and clubbed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the smoker I purchased was manufactured and sold by a company out of Hood River, Oregon. That seems natural, as the mighty Columbia is a sandbox for sealife of many kinds. I cracked open the box and found a booklet with an untold number of recipes for brining and smoking anything you can imagine, really (I can smoke my own cheese...think about smoked cheese...can't stop thinking about smoked cheese... Mad! I tell you) I quickly found one of the brine equations for salmon, and was pleased to note that all of the requisite ingredients were nesting safely in my cupboard. It is too easy, the whole deal. I was somewhat dejected to find such a simplistic list of ingredients, because smoked salmon tastes a lot like magic, or sorcery. The lack of nuance was short lived; as if conducting a science experiment, the process of smoking fish has inherent negative variables to corral and suppress. And, like the hordes of people in foreign countries recently working towards smashing the world record for number of dancing zombies in a Thriller video, participation and attentiveness is half of the battle.

Brine:

• brown sugar
  
• salt (non-iodized)
  
• Old Bay seasoning


• nothing else

1. Warm some water, enough to dissolve the sugar and salt
2. This should be a rich concentration, and I didn't measure. I received a tip from an old man on the boat who was killing it and noshing on rice balls with imitation crab meat simultaneously. Says he, "More sugar than salt. Brown sugar. And always more sugar than salt." Admittedly, this advice appears to be masquerading as plagiarized R&B lyrics, but proved to be the sage advice of a stereotypically sage old Japanese man.
3. Submerge the fish overnight in the brine, the longer the better, and refrigerate in a closed container of your choice.
4. Rinse the fish next day, put immediately in smoker when dry.
5. Place in the smoker.

From here, the journey is about preference. Operating the smoker is simple. Do it outdoors (mine is electric, so find an outlet). It should be exposed to the elements as little as possible, in a windbreak. Perhaps a porch or open garage is best. I had to run an extension cord out of my apartment and smell up the joint something awful. Use as many pans of whatever wood chips as you think adequate, but three is a good number, four for thick pieces. The outside temperature dictates the process, as my smoker has only two settings...'on', or unplugged. But you might want to set aside an afternoon and evening, checking it often for color and 'doneness'. This whole thing takes hours if done carefully. It was all I did for two days. Great excuse for beer drinking, for those who need an excuse for beer drinking.

The reward was an abundance of honeyglazed, precisely smoked, tender, sweet, smokey fish that I had personally wrangled. Lot of work, but plenty of fun. And, it doesn't get more local, sustainable, or more northwest. This is just what we do here.

Smoked salmon has so many culinary applications, subsequent blog posts are required. But keep it simple, like the old man on the boat. Again the old lesson is pounded home...less is more. Don't overthink this. You'll know when it is ready. Always more sugar than salt.

Ripples in a creek

The salmon skeet skeet

In shoreline pebbles

Ponder salmon sperm and the northwest's economic and cultural reliance...?

The salmon embodies a very much alive culinary cultural tradition. Though this is easy to overlook in a place where culinary diversity abounds, reproduces, spawns so fruitfully.

Nothing beets these.

Here are two salad ideas.

First, in my quest to recreate my favorite Thai curry dishes, I have obtained several requisite specialty items from the Asian Deli. Lime leaves, fish sauce, Pho broth cubes, another crumbly substance the description of which was lost in translation (I thought I heard tamarind), pickled thai chilis, galangal root, various curry pastes. These ingredients always seem to be in my kitchen, and I am diligent about this curry recreation, so it is a dish I make frequently. Deadly serious here: My appetite is the Rapture for Thai curries. I will let you know when I perfect 'it'. But, after becoming romantically involved with baby bok choy, it occurred to me one afternoon in the aisle that I needed to be taking full advantage of the wonderfully cheap but limited produce items at the deli. Thai basil, the bok choy, the most perfect scallions, cilantro in lush abundance. Carrots. Here is what I did:

1. Heated up some curry paste, fish sauce, small amount of olive oil, and the juice of a lime, rice wine vinegar to taste, if desired. In a pan, enough to allow the curry to meld evenly. Let it cool in the refrigerator.
2. Chopped up the bok choy and tomatoes, scallions, the cilantro (always generous).
3. Left the basil leaves whole, perhaps garnish with flower head.
4. Shred carrot.
5. Combine when dressing is chilled, whisk it up with a little salt & cracked pepper.

This was fresh, light. Don't beat up the bok choy too badly, in fact chop it up and add it last. Go real light on the olive oil. I heard Mr. T hates it when people butcher salads. So, if he is your dinner guest you'd be wise in heeding this advice.

Salad number 2 is pretty popular in the summer. I do some things differently here though. Someone told me they wanted to 'get this salad pregnant'. Maybe I said that. Anyways, the NW is a land of asparagus, alfalfa, sweet onions, and sweet corn. Other stuff too. This time of the year I become somewhat of a 'cornographer' because I was raised on sweet, local corn on the cob, and I exploit produce by nature. I am omnivorous. Try this take on a cold corn salad for an evening on the porch. Perhaps grill the corn? I wish I had a porch now, having said that.

1. Boil lightly or grill the corn.
2. Slice off in sheets.
3. Chop Italian parsley, two big Walla Walla sweet onions (never caught with the Vidalia onion), fennel and the bulb's grassy tops (tops done very finely).
4. Synchronize the swimming of the Grey Poupon, honey, salt & cracked pepper, light olive oil, and more lime or lemon juice. Whatever.
5. Combine and chill. Should be a very light, sweet honey mustard. Restrain yourself. The dressing should absorb the flavors, not become a puddle. Chill, stirring intermittently. Light salt before serving.

These two will disappear. Help them to do it. Help them fake their own death. If you were thinking about sharing these at a picnic or potluck, don't. Hire a surrogate, and send him first to the store for that sickly-sweet deli potato salad, then to the potluck. You didn't want to go anyway. Why. You already have food at home now. Find some meat and beer. I know you are worried about your carbon footprint anyway. So am I. But, I just billed you for that little jewel.

Suggested pairings?

Wine: I don't care. Who cares.

Muppets: Invite Kermit. Fozzy is a notorious lush. And, I read that he is being sued for child support.

Music: Neil Young's Harvest. Or, whatever.

What is the Gustatory Gospel...?

..."Relating to the sense of taste or to the action or experience of tasting something. Something believed to be absolutely and unquestionably true."

This is a philosophy of food, of cooking, as physical and spiritual enrichment.

The idea is that spending more time in the kitchen, going to market, searching for fresh and local ingredients, taking that time prepare a meal, sharing your food, involves sacrifice. It isn't necessarily a frugal approach, and as a novice, it is admittedly time consuming. Painstaking. But, you start to pay attention to your food. You work to create for yourself. You pay attention to details, you finely chop. You peel garlic. Later on, you peel heirloom garlic. Because you develop a heightened appreciation for your food. As elevated prose is poetry, cooking from scratch is pure and simple truth, beautifully expressed. You take it seriously, and you do it well.

The recipes and ideas are not new, in fact they are antiquated.

Fresh herbs in everything. Quality extra virgin olive oil. Butter that you've made. Local chevre. Same day seafood. Beef from a cow you've met before. The bounty of your garden.

Beets, and beet greens. Turnips, and turnip greens.

The more energy you expend collecting and preparing a meal, the better it tastes, the healthier you eat. Eating less, but maybe richer, whole.

I want to share a link to the recent NY Times Magazine article by the Michael Pollan, the most famous man in food right now. I haven't read his books, and I didn't see Food Inc. I get it. It is an old an simple equation. Stop eating processed trash, convenience foods, snacks, and eat vegetables, exercise, be active. The benefits of this dietary approach are well documented and widely extolled. But, this is a different topic. The article is about the importance of cooking. It is about the success of food. Food the media personality, food the television superstar and megapitchman. I really enjoyed this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html?_r=1&hpw

There is a great quote from Mario Batali, running through the perceived stereotype personalities doing business on the Food Network.