Salmon Program
In spring with the first melt water or flood the small salmon children migrate to the sea—they are then small and shining like herring—and they move on to the ocean and home to their parents living in the high seas. And when they are fully grown, they return to swim up in fresh water and streams, and increase their numbers by procreation, as well as to serve as food for man. And what is most fantastic of all, the salmon seeks the stream and the place where it was born.
—From On Animals, Fishes, Birds, and Trees of Norway (1599), by Peder Claussøn Friis (1545– 1614), a senior rector and the first Norwegian to describe the distinct characteristics of the life of a salmon
What a fantastic, legendary fish! What a complex, wondrous life! Salmon are anadromous fish, which means they are born in freshwater, migrate and spend most of their lives in saltwater, and then return to freshwater to spawn. The life cycle of a salmon is truly extraordinary. The salmon swim hundreds of miles, returning to the river of their birth to spawn and then die, completing their life cycle.
On the evening of May 26th at Mother’s Bistro, Chef/Owner Lisa Schroder and I (Diane Morgan, author of Salmon: A Cookbook, Chronicle 2005) presented a focused presentation on this singular, iconic fish. Through slides, video, and oral commentary the glories and challenges of Pacific salmon were highlighted and discussed. The evening’s program was based on a presentation Lisa gave at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference held in Portland in April. Along with a three-course dinner featuring grilled Chinook salmon as the entrée, PCA members were challenged with a blind tasting of farmed versus wild salmon. Not surprising to those who have studied salmon, it isn’t obvious which is which. This led to a further discussion of the techniques used to add color and fat to the diets of pen-raised salmon allowing the producers to mimic the flavor and texture profile of wild salmon.
With the intent of educating an audience already attuned to eating locally and sustainably, the program was enlightening as well as entertaining. The current situation with the gulf oil spill only reinforces the need to protect the delicate salmon habitat of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and this program highlighted all the issues.
-Diane Morgan
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