Julian Vrieslander wrote:
> In article >,
> (Ken) wrote:
>
>
>>Everyone,
>>
>>I had some fresh wild salmon and decided to barbeque it. I used a
>>fish grilling basket, the kind with the two pieces that fit together
>>to hold the fish. When the fish was done, it was thoroughly stuck to
>>the basket. I sprayed it with non-stick stuff before grilling.
>>
>>Any solutions to this problem? Is it just going to happen? Should I
>>have brushed the thing down with oil to prevent sticking? Help.
>
>
> Check out the current issue of Cook's Illustrated. There is an article
> about grilling salmon. One of the things that they discuss is how you
> can avoid sticking. Executive summary: grilling baskets and non-stick
> sprays don't work as well as just using an oil-soaked paper towel to
> swab the grill. My own experience bears this out.
>
Having never used a fish basket, I have never had my salmon, or other
firm fish, stick to the grill. Two things to remember: always oil the
grill; two, never put the fish on the grill until it is hot.

As an aside, the best way to grill the salmon is to lightly rub on olive
oil all over. Place the fish skin side down, until almost cooked. Turn
over to the flesh side, for just a minute or two.

BTW, the NYT is following up on my mention of Yukon River Kings:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/23/dining/23SALM.html.


June 23, 2004
Wild Flavor of the Yukon, Now in the Lower 48
By TIMOTHY EGAN

FAIRBANKS, Alaska
SCOURING the upper face of Alaska, the Yukon River flows nearly 2,000
miles before it braids and breaks to the Bering Sea. Its name evokes
Jack London, a sweet whiskey and a legendary run of king salmon. Of the
three, the salmon is perhaps the least known, but that is about to change.

Starting this month, Yukon River kings made their way into American
markets in the lower 48 states for the first time in a generation. They
arrived with a reputation, spread by travelers who know the Last
Frontier State well, as perhaps the best-tasting salmon in the world,
rich in oil content, as fat as a football, netted at the mouth of the
river by native Yup'ik Eskimo fishers who have lived off this run for
thousands of years.

"There is good wild salmon and not-so-good wild salmon," said Harry
Yoshimura, whose family has sold salmon at Mutual Fish in Seattle[best
seafood store in Seattle] for more than 50 years. "This is easily one of
the best."

Matters of taste are always debatable, but by one objective measure —
the amount of oil that gives the fish its richness and much of its
flavor — Yukon River kings would seem to be unmatched. According to
tests done by marketers at a lab in Oregon, the fish have nearly twice
as much oil as Copper River salmon, the wild Alaskan fish considered by
some to be the gold standard.

To salmon connoisseurs, Copper River has been over-hyped anyway, and is
only at its best during the first week of the run, usually in late May.
Yukon kings are poised to become the salmon of the moment. But because
about 50,000 pounds will be available through mid-July, the price should
stay below that of the less-abundant Copper River kings, according to
wholesalers.

The high oil content means that the fish is exceptionally moist, with a
distinct flavor. It is also high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which
nutritionists say are healthy for the heart.

It is one of the more far-flung foods to find its way into a main street
market's ice display. The Yukon River starts in Canada and touches the
edge of the Arctic Circle before lumbering southwest to a vast, roadless
delta. The river mouth is frozen from about late October till May. The
length of the river, and its chill, are largely responsible for the
salmon's richness.

The fish build up the insulating layer of body fat and oils near the end
of their lives in order to make the nearly 2,000-mile journey upriver in
60 days. By contrast, Copper River salmon swim about 300 miles to spawn.
Yukon kings are fished by natives just as they arrive at the river mouth
to begin their swim to spawning grounds.

"When they hit the river, they are really fat," said Deborah Vo, a
native Yup'ik with the Yukon River Delta Fisheries Association, which
harvests the fish. The natives hang the fish to dry and smoke them with
alder or driftwood.

"We brine them, store it for the winter, and the taste never gets old,"
Ms. Vo said. "This is probably the only fish my daughter will eat."

In the six Yup'ik villages scattered around the Yukon, natives smoke and
store Yukon kings for subsistence. Most of their remaining catch used to
go to Japan. There, Yukon kings are often dried and then flaked onto
special dishes, or given as a gift. As less expensive farmed fish have
flooded the market, the Japanese have become less willing to pay premium
prices. As a result, this year, the Yup'ik decided to try to sell the
fresh fish to mainland American markets, where they have not been seen
for 30 years.

Small amounts of Yukon king salmon have always made their way into a
handful of stores in Seattle, which considers itself the salmon capital
of the world.

"You've got some old-timers who rave about it," Mr. Yoshimura said. "And
people in the seafood industry have always known about Yukon kings. But
it's a secret to everyone else."

The question is whether American consumers, who have become increasingly
savvy about taste and texture of the different species of wild salmon,
will respond. Farmed salmon make up more than half of the overall salmon
market, but wild salmon have started to make inroads after reports of
possible health and environmental problems with the farmed variety.

Alaska has the world's most bounteous wild salmon runs, from the Copper
River sockeyes of late May to the bright, fleshy cohos, or silvers, of
September. But the fish are caught only during select openings, and
fishermen have long had trouble getting them to markets thousands of
miles away.

Yukon kings are caught by natives using nets and small skiffs. The fish
are flown in prop planes from a dirt landing strip to Anchorage, and
then by jet to Seattle and Chicago, kept packed in ice during the ride.
Kwik'pak Fisheries, which is selling the Yukon kings, says the fish can
show up on menus in major American cities within three days of leaving
the Yukon delta.

Grocery chains like Whole Foods, with stores nationwide, and
Metropolitan Market, in Seattle, have become prime retail showcases for
wild Alaskan salmon. For the next three weeks, the Yukon kings will be
in select stores and restaurants throughout the United States, including
Esca and the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal in New York, and the
Oceanaire Seafood Room in Washington, D.C. It will be sold for $19.95 a
pound at Wegmans stores in New Jersey and in the Lehigh Valley in
Pennsylvania.

Wild salmon are endangered in some rivers along the West Coast, but the
runs are healthy in Alaska.

The Alaska runs have been trying to brand themselves, following the
success of Copper River, which is sold in Seattle with all the hype of
the Beaujolais nouveau.

Of the five species of Pacific salmon, kings are the largest and most
prized. Pacific coast natives called them chinook or tyees, names which
are also bestowed on great men or leaders. Some kings weigh as much as
100 pounds. Born in gravel-bed nests from central California to Alaska,
the fish migrate downstream, spend one to four years in the open
Pacific, and then return to their birth grounds to spawn and die. Once
they re-enter fresh water, they no longer eat, relying on their stores
of body fat and oil.

The season for wild kings starts in February, when a small amount of
Columbia River spring chinook are available. Mr. Yoshimura ranks the
Columbia springers, as they are known, with the Yukon kings for taste
and oil content.

Among the Alaska runs, Bristol Bay kings and coho from southeastern
waters around Sitka, are also starting to show up on restaurant plates
outside the state.

Outsiders, a term Alaskans use for anyone who does not live in their
state, sometimes consider diners salmon snobs when they ask a waiter
where a fish comes from, or whether it is net-caught or troll-caught.
This is not out of compassion for the fish. Judging by the way Alaskans
club, hook, cajole or snag salmon during the summer, most residents
could not care less about how a fish died, so long as it ends up on a grill.

The question has to do with how a fish is handled. Net fish can be
mashed in a pile, sometimes resulting in poor texture. Marti Bickford,
who is developing the domestic marketing program for Kwik'pak, said that
the Yukon fishermen have been schooled in handling their catch this
year, to ensure that the fish do not arrive in anything but prime condition.

As for how to cook the fish, true wild salmon lovers prefer grilling
with olive oil and sea salt, skin side first, and then a quick turn on
the flesh side near the end.

Mr. Yoshimura said he likes to poach his Yukon king in water with
ginger, a sprinkling of dried onions, and seaweed or Japanese kelp.

"Then you eat what's left over cold, for breakfast, or in a salad," he
said. "And that's really good."

With the return of Yukon salmon to the lower 48 states, Mr. Yoshimura
has one hope for the run: long live the kings.
--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener