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Wasn't that long ago, matey, we'd be lucky to see any fresh salmon in Seattle. Bristol Bay had a huge sockeye fishery, the largest in the world, but the catch was frozen stiff before it made it to local markets. Now, we're spoiled silly, with fresh, wild salmon coming in from the mouths of rivers all along the Alaska coast: the Yukon, the Taku, the Stikine and, best of all, the Copper.
The folks at McCormick & Schmick are doing their darndest to promote the spring runs, enlisting an anthropomorphic "Wild Salmon" band (Sockeye Sam on vocals, King Karuthers on keyboard, Kenny Keta on bass, etc.), reminding diners about the health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids and tweaking the twice-daily fresh sheet to highlight the runs.
At a media dinner this week, sous-chef Josh Westcott sent out a succession of delectable salmon dishes. A tartare made with Taku red and Stikine ivory was stunning (especially paired with a Willamette Valley Vineyards pinot gris). The highlight, though, was grilled Copper River atop plain risotto. Sure, the other salmon were wonderful, coming from recently reopened fisheries at the mouth of long, fast-running rivers. They might be cheaper, too, but that's not the point; we live close to the source, we pay for the privilege of first crack at the Coppers.
Executive chef Eric Naruszewicz, whose previous assignment was in Boston, singled out Paul Tourangeau's Koike Seafoods for supplying small batches of high-quality fish, no mean feat when demand is high and the P-I's substitute restaurant writer surveys local eateries serving overhyped, overpriced and, gulp, undercooked fish.
So as we head into the wild salmon season, let's pause and give thanks. Bless Jon Rowley, who first called Seattle's attention to the Copper River run. Bless the salmon, of course. And bless those who call it "center-of-the-plate protein," as long as they cook it right: till it flakes.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind words but also for getting a discussion going about salmon cookery. I cringe whenever a waiter tells me "We serve our salmon medium rare". No skill required to serve a salmon half raw. When salmon comes to the table with translucence just leaving the fish, yet still juicy and succulent, that is the mark of a master. Wayne ludvigsen when he was at Ray's was THE master. He could have forty orders of salmon on the grill and each would arrive at their respective tables perfectly cooked.
I don't know that "till it flakes" is the right level of done-ness. That sounds overcooked to me.
It is my understanding that all salmon, to be safe to consume, has at least been (briefly) frozen to kill Diphyllobothrium.
(Taichi at Chiso originally told me this.)
Copper River is nothing but a brand name and an excuse to inflate prices. People saying Copper River salmon tastes different from any other Wild Alaskan Salmon are just as clueless as the the people who think white king tastes different from red king. It's all in your mind...
The real deciding factor in how your fish tastes is how it was treated coming out of the water.
If you want to be sure you are getting a quality product, buy directly from the fishermen. You'll pay about half the price and you can be sure the fish was cleaned immediately and treated with care.
(Also, fish has to be either cooked OR frozen in order to kill the bugs. So all sushi must be frozen and everything else can just be cooked. And to avoid overcooking you should remove it from the heat when it is still a little pink inside. The meat will keep cooking for a couple minutes after you pull it off the grill/out of the oven.)