I was reading an interesting book last night entitled “The Encyclopedia of Country Living.” It had all kinds of practical information on living simply, country style. There were sections in there on how to keep your dairy products cool with no refrigeration and other “carbon-friendly” and time-honored tidbits of information.
The book got me thinking about some of the more ancient and proven methods of seafood preservation – salting, drying, pickling or fermenting, and smoking fish. These methods have been practiced for thousands of years and are still practiced today. Some of my favorite salmon preservation techniques hale from diverse locales around the world – Scotland, Norway, Alaska. “Salt fish,” also known as “suulunaqs” in Yup’ik, is a carbon-free preservation technique that allows fish to be stored in salt throughout the winter and used as needed. This technique also honors the Alaska Native traditional value of minimizing waste of the resource, as it is often made with the bellies of the salmon. The salted salmon bellies, once sufficiently desalinated, make the best pickled fish.
My grandmother, Violet Willson, puts up over ten buckets of salted salmon, and is known throughout the region for her famous pickled fish. It is the best that I’ve ever tasted. Rather than hoard her knowledge, she believes in passing these traditions on and sharing what she knows. Much of what she has learned about salmon she has taught herself, or learned from books or through her elders. Her fearlessness and tenacity have enabled her to develop her salmon recipes over the years to the point that her preparations are highly coveted.
An interesting thing about salt fish is that it is also a traditional Hawaiian dish, often served at weddings and graduation ceremonies as Lomi Lomi Salmon. The desalinated fish is cut up in very small pieces and served with tomatoes and onions. I thought it was interesting that Native Hawaiians should have a dish that contains in ingredient that wasn’t indigenous to the region. So, I asked a Hawaiian friend of mine how the dish became popular. He told me the story about how, in ancient times, voyagers from Hawaii and Alaska had trade routes where they traded salted salmon. This was during the time when Hawaii still had kings and queens. The fact that this dish is still popular in Hawaii is amazing to me.
Another popular dish around the world is smoked salmon. The varieties are enough to boggle the mind, and it seems that each region claims to make the best smoked salmon. There are Scottish, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Canadian (Nova), and Pacific Northwest and Alaskan version of smoked salmon. All smoked salmon varieties are based on the basic principles of salting and adding smoke. Some, such as the Pacific Northwest and Alaskan varieties incorporate a drying step in their process. The lox, or cured and smoked variety often has only a hint of smoke flavor, while Gravlax is completely devoid of any smoke, but is still a salt cured style salmon.
The Alaskan and Pacific Northwest version of smoked salmon is probably the most common here in Bristol Bay, and some people simply refer to it as “smoked fish,” or the term “squaw candy.” I don’t condone use of the latter term, as it is often perceived as being derogatory to Natives, particularly Native women. Some big companies, such as Port Chatham (now owned by Trident) have called this particular style “strips” or “hard smoked.”
Whatever your preference for styles or flavors, salmon were effectively preserved using these “old ways” for millennia before the advent of modern refrigeration. With so much attention on global warming, Peak Oil (or Peak Everything), and the emphasis on reducing our carbon footprint on this planet, perhaps it is time that salmon producing peoples take the time to pass on these traditional food preservation techniques. They are not only practical, but they can be delicious alternatives to frozen salmon.
January 11, 2010
