Salmon have been abundant in Alaskan waters for thousands of years and remain so today, while American Atlantic waters have been sorely impacted by overfishing. Salmon was so frequently on the menu in early New England that indentured servants insisted on a clause in their contracts limiting salmon to one meal a week. Then in the nineteenth century most commercial salmon came from the Atlantic. It was canned in New England and shipped to California beginning in 1840. By 1864 the process was reversed, with canned salmon produced in California and sent east.
Today all Atlantic salmon come from Canada or Europe, while the waters of Alaska still teem with fish. This is due to modern methods of managing the seasonal fisheries in Alaska. Of the one billion pounds of salmon produced commercially worldwide, about 70% comes from farms, but not so in Alaska. All Alaskan salmon are wild, living free in the waters of the Pacific Ocean before returning to the rivers where they were born.
Alaska is also the home to over 130 species of predators which also consume Salmon. For this reason among others the Salmon market in Alaska is watched closely for any overfishing that could cause instabilities in the Alaskan environment. This is why there are such vast numbers of the wonder fish today.
Alaska is also the home of wolves, bears and another 130 other species. This made Salmon a very common meal for these animals, and for the Native people of Alaska as well due to the ease of preservation and its flavor when smoked. The fish oils are retained while smoking and alter the taste while being smoked, thus making it a glamorous meal for the people.
The high fat content makes salmon an ideal food to preserve and flavor with smoke. Native Alaskans have been doing just that for centuries. The natural oils of the fish welcome the smoke flavor and retain it in a splendid way. But creating the best mouth-watering Alaskan Smoked Salmon isn’t as simple as placing the salmon in the smokehouse.
Spices, and cures also play vital roles in the smoking process of salmon. The veterans of smoking often have a priced recipe for their cures. Dry cures are a mix of herbs or fruit, sea salt, and sugar. This is used commonly to produce cursed, not smoked fish. Wet cure means the meat must be soaked in a solution of brine which can contain pepper, sugar, other spices, and salt.
The species of the salmon also plays a vital role in the out come of flavoring. There are five different varieties of salmon to choose from in Alaska, and each one offers a strikingly unique flavor compared to one another.
Today, people can find salmon on their local grocery store shelves, but this variety is typically farm raised and cold smoked. For any connoisseur, however, Alaskan Smoked Salmon is the best bet. The taste of Alaskan Salmon is comparable to fine wine when its properly smoked and cured correctly.