The
Canned Salmon Taste Test
If you're worried about eating salmon,
get out your can opener: the tin stuff is
wild.
JESSICA JOHNSON conducts a taste poll for
some of the best brands on the market.
| 1. Tied for first is Raincost
Trading's Sockeye Salmon, $4.49 a 60-gram
can: moist with an appealing bright pink
color. |
|
1. Also tied is President's
Choice Smoked Sockeye Salmon, $7.99 a
156-gram can: rich and savoury with a
delicious smoky tastse. |
|
2. No Name
Sockeye Salmon was the surprise second-place
finisher, $2.79 a 213-gram tin: a pleasing
fatty flavour. |
|
3. West Coast
Select Smoked Salmon came in a pricey
third place at $7.49 a 213-gram tin: pale
pink with a hint of smoke. |
|
4.Clover Leaf
Wild Pacific Sockeye Salmon trailed the
field, $4.99 a 213-gram tin: strong smell,
less flavour. |
Salmon has always been a slippery fish. At its
freshest, tastiest best, it can thrill the pickiest
gourmand; at worst, its shows up in the tasteless
sandwiches you find in cafeterias when all the
others have been taken.
To make matters worse, in wake of the reports
last week about unacceptable levels of toxins
in farmed salmon, a flurry of conflicting information
has been released about how much, and how often,
salmon should be consumed.
According to Science magazine, farmed Atlantic
salmon should be restricted to one or two meals
a month. However, lost in the translation is
the information that canned salmon is safe all
year round.
"Virtually all canned
salmon is wild-caught," says Glenn McGregor,
national manager of product inspection for the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency. "I say
virtually, because I don't know of anyone canning
salmon aquaculture."
According to the science report, fresh wild
salmon is safe to consume eight times a month.
All salmon contains heart-proecting omega 3
fatty acids, but tinned salmon is extra rich
in calcium, thanks to all those small, chewable
bones, which are usually left in during processing.
So what about the taste? Many Canadians regulary
eat fresh salmon filets, but turn up their noses
at tinned. Chefs, too, say canned salmon has
little flavour. But it could be they haven't
eaten much lately. Globe staff memebers sampled
five brands: two gourmet-store items and three
widely available in grocery stores. Our conclusios
(see above) were surprising, with No Name Sockeye
scoring higher than one of the specialty brands,
West Coast Select Smoked Salmon, which at $7.49
is more than twice the price.
There were two favorites: President's Choice
Smoked Sockeye Salmon and Raincoast Trading's
Sockeye Salmon, which is available at Whole
Foods and will soon hit mainstream grocery chains.
"We use only wild seafood, because
of the hazards associated with farming,"
says Mick Wick, one of the owners of Raincoast,
a Delta B.C., company started 25 years ago by
Wick's father. Its product moved into the Canadian
stores only recently, when it was decided that
North Americans might like the premium salmon
previously reserved for export to Japan.
Everyone who tried it thought it was amazing,
Wicks says. "I thought, why aren't we letting
ourselves eat this is North America?"
Vancouver chef Barbara-jo McIntosh is another
fan of canned salmon. And she believes that
conventional supermarket brands are perfectly
good to cook with.
"Sockeye is
the most brilliant fish, especially when its
canned. There's so much flavour to it. You have
to be careful when cooking fresh, because it
can dry out. But canned, the flavors are even
enhanced," she says from her store, Barbara-jo's
Books to Cooks, where her own cookbook, The
Tin Fish Gourmet (Raincoast), has sold
20,000 copies since 1998.
The book is divided into chapters for salmon,
tuna, sardines and crabmeat, among others, and
offers recipes for such delicacies as salmon
and fennel stew and asparagus, brie and salmon
omelette.
With canned salmon, McIntosh says, "you
can make a salmon loaf, steam some spinach,
make a salad and you've got a really good meal."
Her favorite recipe is this updated version
of her grandmother's.
Curried
Salmon Loaf
1 213-gram tin salmon, drained
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 large green onion, sliced
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
1 small carrot, grated
1 small parsnip, grated
1 egg
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 lemon wedges
Heat
over to 350F. Place the rack in the middle of
the oven.
Butter an
8-by-4-inch loaf pan with 1 teaspoon of butter.
Put salmon in a bowl and set aside. Melt remaining
butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Add curry powder and cook for 30 seconds, being
careful not to let the mixture burn. Add green
onion, tomato, carrot and parsnip and stir.
Turn heat down to medium-low and cover the saucepan.
Cook for 2 minutes, being careful not to let
it brown. Remove from heat and add to salmon
in bowl. Add egg and Parmesan cheese. Mix well,
but not too much. Place in loaf pan and cook
in oven, covered, 35 minutes. Remove lid and
cook for 2 more minutes. Garnish with lemon
wedges. Serves 2.
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