Several large trucks heading towards me convinced me I was on the right trail - it seems a local quarry has been turned into a wildlife park and salmon farm (see accompanying picture). The Isaac Salmon Market is open to the public.
If you're looking for a reasonable price for produce such as this, there's nothing quite like buying it on the farm doorstep. When I shop I like to see exactly what I am buying and at the salmon farm the fresh salmon cuts were clearly visible in pre-priced plastic bags. There's nothing worse than getting tray packed meat or fish home and finding scraggy little bits tucked in underneath.
One of my favourite salmon recipes comes from the Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver. I met him last year at a Literary Liaisons evening organised by our Christchurch newspaper, The Press. It was a sellout affair with dozens of women and chefs crowded into a hotel ballroom to sip bubbly and hear the young English lad chat about his career and his approach to food. He sold plenty of books that night and cheerfully autographed the lot.
His recipe for tray-baked salmon with green beans, tomatoes, anchovies and olives has to be one of the easiest and tastiest way to serve salmon. I've tracked the recipe down on the Internet and you will find it at http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetai... Definitely worth trying. I've made it half a dozen times and it still delights us. And that was the fate of the salmon I brought home from the market.
I also got some packs of their smoked salmon - both the cold smoked and the hot smoked variety. What's the difference? It depends on the temperature of the smoking chamber. The texture and flavour of the finished product are quite different. The thinly sliced smoked salmon familiar to most people is cold smoked. Excess heat is removed from the smoking chamber so the fish doesn't actually "cook" but just dries out a little. With hot smoking the fish is firmer and flakier.
If you are interested in reading more about the smoking process, visit http://www.sallys-place.com/food/columns... where you will find an informative article.
I like hot smoked salmon served simply on a chunk of chewy ciabatta bread, perhaps with a dollop of lemon mayonnaise.
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