"smoked salmon" news and stories

The Academy Awards are just three days away, and I'm sure a number of you are hosting Oscar parties. If nothing else, it gives you good reason to get friends and family together to enjoy some delicious food and drinks - what could be better than that? Over the next few days we're going to take a look at some dishes that you may be able to serve to your guests, Oscar-style, while waiting to find out who wins Best Picture.

I came across this article written by Wolfgang Puck, world-class chef and owner of Spago's plus many other restaurants around the country. Since he has been serving up dishes to the stars since the 1970's (at his restaurants, as well as at the award shows themselves), I decided there was no better way to kick start our own little Oscar party than by spotlighting one of his recipes.

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Everyone has their Christmas morning traditions. When I was a kid, we couldn't open any of our gifts (OK, maybe our stockings) until mom had had her first cup of coffee. I don't really have any traditions or rules like that anymore, because I have my own place now and I go over to my sister's house later in the day and exchange gifts and she usually cooks, but a lot of people have certain things they always eat or drink on Christmas morning, even beyond the coffee you have in the morning or the turkey you have for dinner.

In the December issue of Bon Appetit, Ted Allen gives his menu for a Christmas brunch that could become a new tradition in your home. He starts with a Citrus Fruit Salad. Actually, maybe he starts with the Gazpacho Bloody Marys! Then you can go on to the Potato Latkes with Smoked Salmon, Caviar, and Tarragon Creme Fraiche, and maybe some Sticky Bun Bread Pudding.

• Some gift ideas for people you work with, including Chocolate Crinkles, Toasted Mixed Nuts, and Cheese Crackers.
• How to make pomanders for the holidays, and how to make the change from a gas stove to an electric one.
• Chef Marcus Samuelsson returns to his roots.
• Everybody loves Amy Sedaris!
• A recipe that combines smoked salmon and cheesecake?! Yup.
• Why farmers eat better in the winter.
• One reason why you should stop bashing Rachael Ray.
• Sassy Sips & Nibbles: a self-published book about snacks and drinks.
• This week's recipes: White Beans, Sausage, and Escarole; 'Lil Smoky Cheese Ball; Piri Piri; Mango Couscous; and Carnitas.

When I was in Seattle last weekend, I couldn't help but notice a popular (and clever!) bumper sticker all over the city: "Farm-Raised Salmon Dyed for You."

Meanwhile, an interesting article in the New York Times dropped some remarkable facts about recent trends in smoked salmon:

• Many -- nay, most -- major retailers on both coasts and in the Midwest (Wegmans and Costco included) buy their smoked salmon from one source: Brooklyn's Acme Smoked Fish.

• Whereas the industry shifted from nearly exclusive use of wild salmon in the 1980s to farm-raised salmon in the 1990s, recent bad press about farm-raised salmon -- like the aforementioned bumper sticker -- has caused the industry to swing back towards wild salmon.
• Smoked salmon has undergone a remarkable shift of late: unlike most everything else, smoked salmon is less salty than ever before. 

Still to be determined is how the Pacific Northwest wry bumper sticker industry will respond.

• Food & Wine went to 50 cities around the world and compiled their list of the 376 hottest restaurants in the world.
• Chef Bobby Flay is in love with Savannah, Georgia.
• Pete Wells searches for the world's best chocolate.
• Marcia Kiesel looks for the best home cooking in Vietnam.
• Recipes in the May issue include: Minted Pea Soup with Smoked Salmon, Farro and Green Bead Salad, Corn and Goat Cheese Grits, Scottish Beef Stew, and for dessert, Bananas in Coffee Bean Syrup.