May 28, 2003
Salmon

In the past few months, I have been getting less and less interested in salmon. I find that all the salmon I can get around here tastes ... well, just too salmon-y for my palate. I am by no means a picky eater, but that overwhelmingly "I am farmed Salmon, hear me roar" flavor is getting a bit tired. That is, of course, until we went to Washington State, bought a big hunk of fresh wild salmon, and tossed it over an open flame. Maybe it was the atmosphere, or maybe (probably) it was the quality of the salmon itself, but I swear that was the best piece of fish I'd tasted in months.

grilled-salmon_t.jpg

Just a short while after coming back to the east coast, the New York Times food section published an article about the State of Salmon Today. I don't know if any of you read it, but it was somewhat frightening. And helped me justify some of my issues with farmed salmon. I quote:

"[A] class-action lawsuit in Washington called attention to the little-known fact that farmed salmon are not naturally salmon pink or red, and that if they were not fed artificial colors they would range from gray or khaki to pale yellow or pale pink. Wild salmon turn pink from the krill and shrimp they eat. (Farmed salmon eat a fishmeal diet.) The lawsuit accused three supermarket chains of violating Food and Drug Administration regulations by not telling shoppers that farmed salmon were artificially colored, thus leading them to think they were buying wild fish."

salmofan.jpg

I, for one, had no idea that my salmon was artificially colored, and was particularly disturbed by the accompanying photo. These "salmon swatches” are used by the folks who sell salmon dye to choose just the right color to please me, the unsuspecting consumer. I wonder how these shades would look on the walls of our living room?