Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Salmon Bacon (Brekfish)

A little under a year ago my brother had a son, and in the Jewish tradition had a Bris for his eight days later. Probably the second most important Jewish tradition to circumcision is the eating of smoked salmon afterwards (in fact, much like most of the other Jewish occasions, a large part of the mitzvah of a bris is to have a meal there). My brother purchased a rather massive cut of smoked salmon from his local Price Chopper (Albany area --- price chopping is king), which has a rather nice kosher deli. The fish was spectacular. Where was it from? None other than the Springfield Smoked Fish company (http://www.springfieldsmokedfish.com/). This was a rather nifty coincidence since my family (up to my parents generation) has been almost entirely from Springfield Massachusettes. Yet somehow we had never found out about this smoked fish company.
How you ask? I don't want to get into family politics, but some members of my family have less than cordial relations with the smoked and cured fishes. In any case, this discovery, lest I say this revelation has since changed the nature of our trips to visit Springfield.
Even before having a chance to go to the source, my brothers and I researched this smoked fish company online. Suddenly there it was: Brekfish Salmon Bacon--- what in the world could salmon bacon be like? This quesstion haunted us for the months leading up to our next visit to my grandmothers. The day came, the car drove and the gps led. Finally we had arrived at the Springfield Smoked Fish company. The building was not too impressive and the inside was as can be expected (a half a dozen clean metal tables with various implements for cleaning and preparing fish). The man who greated us was very helpful, and showed us a list of the items which could be purchased. I know we bought a few things, but what has lingered in my mind was that first purchase of Salmon Bacon.
I waited a few days until returning to New York before being able to actually try the fish. Here is what I found when I had defrosted my first package. The salmon was very soft and free from any sort of fibers. It was cut into thin strips (about 1 inch thick) through the fish's natural grain. I heated up my favorite cast iron skillet and with a little butter, threw a few pieces on. After about 4 minutes the bottoms had cooked to a nice browned color, so I flipped and finished them off. When properly cooked the salmon got very crunchy and held its shape really well. The favor was (and its been a while since I've had this) out of this world. Every little piece was enfused with a smoky, sweetness. The fishiness and saltiness of regular lox was almost not present. I'm not even kidding when I say that I savored every little piece.
The rest of my family had varying responses. What seemed to be the consensus was that it was excellent unless you have had real bacon, in which case it was a little weird.
This Thanksgiving I gave thanks for many things, including the opportunity to get more Salmon Bacon. I even came to Springfield with a few requests from friends to purchase it for them. Unfortunately for me, there was to be no salmon bacon this time. The newest batch just finished today, not last friday when I went to purchase it. So I write today a man without his salmon bacon. I've looked into shipping it here to New York, but it will cost like 40$ just for the shipping. I've asked if they have any distributors here in New York, but the answer is sadly no. So, for the next few months I will need to salivate to the thought and not the smell of Brekfish Salmon Bacon.

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