My DH's smoked salmon

My cousin from Canada came to stay some years ago and brought smoked salmon with her as a gift. It was different from the kind we were used to. A sort of cross between smoked salmon and fresh salmon. It was summer and we simply ate it with a salad.

Living in Central Europe as I do, I really miss fresh fish, the rivers around here are old and slow and far from the sea, so salmon is definitely not a local delicacy!

If I ever go to Canada I shall make a point of trying local freshly smoked salmon.

Oh my gosh - how do I get on the mailing list??? What a wonderful gift that makes for family and friends. It’s quite expensive here, and is one of the first things to go on a buffet table.
Glorious eating.
USA Gundy

I’m loving all these stories. 😊

I love smoked salmon 🍣

Oooh, smoked salmon and hot smoked, I can eat all day long. My dcd DD who enjoyed fishing used to smoke trout in her smoking shed.
You are so lucky to be able to have so much salmon. A friend lives in Newfoundland and she and her husband take their boat out and fish like mad during the season and stock up for winter.

Mmm. Love smoked salmon! I’m reminded of my childhood and a couple of trips to Arbroath. Oh were those smokies something special! My grandmother’s kitchen in Stirling was the most popular place in the house each time.
Last time I was in the area I found that you can’t actually just go to a shop and just buy them any more - you have to order them. My parents did that too, and the arrival of that wooden box once we were back in London was very eagerly anticipated. Hats off to your DH, CanadianGran.

Some years ago my parents-in-law were enjoying a rural holiday near the west coast of Ireland. One evening after dusk there was a quiet knock on the back door of their rented cottage. On opening and the usual greetings, a couple of young fellows asked if they would 'be after having a salmon for tea'? Indeed they would and after a modest payment a large fish changed hands and the two young fellows disappeared into the night. My in-laws never decided on the legality of this transaction but they enjoyed their tea!

Dear Bella23, It was quite a bit further north than the Solway Firth, but more than that I cannot reveal on the grounds that it might still incriminate me - if only for having eaten so much of the spoils…

They had to have a National rod licence and another permit to fish the part of the river they wanted ,some beats on certain rivers as Georgesgran says were very expensive.If you forgot your rod licence you were given a hefty fine which of course mine did. We say beck in the N west of England instead of a stream.
Your husband's
way of going out in a boat sounds very exciting. You get runs of different types of salmon, I think we only get Atlantic and not all year round.

Oh, and yes, depending on where you are fishing and what season it is, you can keep salmon. The regulations are very complicated, but the stakes are high for any cheating. Your boat and vehicle can be confiscated. DH and friends stay up to date on all the regs.

If you ever do get the chance to come to BC, try to get a fishing charter for your DH. I know they are expensive, but a good experience for those who love to fish. Is anything similar available in the north for you in UK?

Bella23, we live on north coast BC. We don't own a boat, but a friend of DH does, and he gets an invite for a few weekends a year. They do have daily limits, but different species are running at different times of year. After all these years I still don't pay that much attention! They all are filleted and into the freezer until November when it is cold enough to do the smoking.

Fishing on the river has been closed to all except First Nations People, so you need a friend with a boat to get out on the ocean.

He has used the smoker for trout (which I like), and the odd whole chicken, and sometimes pork ribs. I don't actually like things too smoky tasting, so I caution him to take it easy on the smoke for those. He'll smoke them for a while, then we cook them on the BBQ.

He will also do other's fish, so the friend with the boat brings his over, as does my son. DH has gotten his recipe and method down to a science. It is well received by others.

👏👏👍😋

I think I can guess where your father lived Bodach. On the river mouths on the Solway Firth, they used to put out Haaf nets a Viking way of catching salmon coming up the river with the tide. We used to go around and buy the fish and from the legal Smokery near Gatehouse of Fleet.
My own father fished but only for trout as he got older.
The person who taught DH to fish Canada Gran actually died on a fishing trip to Canada. Can you still catch and keep it? It's illegal now here as georgesgran has said and costs a lot of money just to throw damaged fish back. He has stopped fishing. He always fancied a visit to Canada. You are so lucky.

Yummy !
I love smoked salmon with whipped cream mixed with a little horseradish and blinies .

Smoked trout is good...

You have inspired me to get our smoker out haven’t set it up since we moved about six years ago. The results are always exciting and can be a little strange. Has he tried other things such as cheese or butter Garlic was superb Thinking ahead might try nuts
Anyone got any other suggestions

My father used to put out an occasional net along the shoreline of the firth beside which he lived in retirement. And the occasional salmon occasionally ended up in that occasional net - so we were never short of an occasional fish or two. Occasionally a couple of them would find their way to and from the 'backyard' smoking facility of a pal of his on a 'one for you; one for me' basis. And very good they were, too.
It could potentially have been a risky business: penalties for taking salmon in this 'freelance' way were eye watering. Fortunately, his pal was:
1. A fellow Leodhasach, and
2. A retired very senior policeman.

Bella23

Georgesgran

DH used to fish The Tweed and when it wasn’t the ‘catch and release’ programme, he’d get the odd fish smoked up there. Delivered chilled and vacuum packed in convenient sizes, it was delicious. (So it should, considering the cost!)

Mine was exactly the same, some we brought home the butcher in Thornhill when he fished the Nidd would freeze them for you but never smoked them. We took them to the local smokery the best was the Beck Watcher at Driffield in Yorkshire. DH did his own trout in a small tin smoker in the garage and chicken breasts.
I wonder how many fish we could have bought with the cost of the beat, accommodation, special waders for different rivers and a ghillie?
Someone I knew did them in her dishwasher!!!!!! served with a sauce of Finish rinse aid.

Yes, I've heard of people cooking fresh salmon in the dishwasher!
Wrapped, of course and apparently it comes out perfectly. I've never tried it

Well done to your DH CanadianGran. He must be a very patient man 🙂

My £44 Teabags Bella23?

How lovely I would be proud if I could home smoke salmon well done Canadian Grandad!!

Georgesgran

DH used to fish The Tweed and when it wasn’t the ‘catch and release’ programme, he’d get the odd fish smoked up there. Delivered chilled and vacuum packed in convenient sizes, it was delicious. (So it should, considering the cost!)

Mine was exactly the same, some we brought home the butcher in Thornhill when he fished the Nidd would freeze them for you but never smoked them. We took them to the local smokery the best was the Beck Watcher at Driffield in Yorkshire. DH did his own trout in a small tin smoker in the garage and chicken breasts.
I wonder how many fish we could have bought with the cost of the beat, accommodation, special waders for different rivers and a ghillie?
Someone I knew did them in her dishwasher!!!!!! served with a sauce of Finish rinse aid.

We have friends in France who are doing the same with trout. I’m not fond of either, but a massive well done to your husband CanadianGran the whole process requires patience.

Sounds amazing and makes me verrry hungry. 😀

Sounds wonderful CanadianGran.

A real treat about this time of year.
You are one lucky lady as are your friends and family.