For most of us, obtaining raw salmon to prepare at home begins at the grocery store or fish market rather than out at sea in a boat. That makes understanding seafood labeling critical to savvy shopping. In 2005, the federal government, under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), developed mandatory labeling rules for the seafood industry designed to inform consumers whether the seafood they are about to purchase is wild or farmed and notify them of its country of origin. Although this labeling program was a good first start, the rules failed to cover much of the seafood that is sold today. For example, “processed” seafood, such as frozen salmon burgers or breaded fish fillets, are exempt from the program, which leaves more than 50 percent of all seafood sold in the United States without labels. Wholesale markets, such as those selling directly to restaurants, are also exempt. With all this flabby labeling, the consumer is tasked with buying seafood from a trusted and reliable source. I suggest you make friends with your fishmonger! Once you have purchased your seafood, bring it home and store it properly; or better yet, cook it that night for dinner. (Information on storing and freezing begins on page 35.)
The recipes in this book call for individual serving-size portions, for a whole side (fillet) of salmon, or for a whole fish. In this chapter, you will find directions on everything from how to fillet a fish and how to remove pin bones to scaling, skinning, portioning servings, and even skin-drying and brining. Mastering all of these techniques—none of which is difficult—will not only help build your culinary skills but also your kitchen confidence.
I read chefs’ cookbooks less for the recipes and more for the techniques they use. That’s how I came to learn about drying the fish skin to achieve a crackly, waferlike crispness. It’s a brilliant idea, and I must thank Thomas Keller for telling his readers how to do it. I also spent time researching and testing the value of brining fish before cooking it, and I’m now hooked on that technique, too. You’ll find the recipe at the end of this chapter.
Most people who have painted a house say that 80 percent of the work is in the prep, and that’s true of fish cookery, too. This chapter provides all the prep tips and techniques you’ll need to prepare great salmon dishes. Each recipe in the chapters that follow specifies how the salmon is to be prepped in the ingredients list. For instance, a recipe might call for a whole side of salmon to be skinned and the pin bones removed. This chapter explains how to do that detailed prep work. Of course, you could ask the fishmonger to fillet a side of salmon for you; however, only one with extra time on his or her hands will pull pin bones. Just like painting, where the time taken to spackle and sand produces a quality job, mastering pin-bone removal, skinning, and skin-drying techniques results in cooked fish any chef would be proud to serve.
