Smoked Salmon with Caper and Green Peppercorn Sauce
Smoked salmon is prone to being counterfeited, so make sure you know what you’re spending your hard-earned cash on. By Lannice Snyman.
First off , let’s get nature study out of the way. It’s good to know your salmon from its less expensive (and – to some – less appealing) relations: trout and salmon trout. The real deal is wild salmon but, as with many extraordinary edibles, its future is in the balance, so we have to rely on farmed salmon.
Most smoked salmon comes from Atlantic salmon, much of it farmed in Canada, Norway and Chile. Irish and Scottish salmon are generally paler than their Atlantic counterparts and purists insist the flavour and texture are better. The choice I leave to you!
Trout (androgynous river fish able to live both in fresh and sea water) is something else entirely, as is so-called “salmon trout”, a seawater fish which was first farmed on the Cape’s West Coast in 1982 but is now available in freshwater form (cosmetically coloured by additives in the feed) from places like Franschhoek, Dullstroom and the Magaliesberg. Although salmon and trout belong to the same family, they’re not able to interbreed so technically there’s no such thing as a salmon trout.
But back to smoked salmon. Happily for us, it’s hugely popular at the southern tip of Africa, so suppliers ensure that we can lay our hands on the good stuff as often as we like – or as often as we can afford; it’s not for budget meals. Nothing beats the exquisite richness and succulence of a whole side, so this is the way to buy it if you can. Slice it as finely as possible – you should be able to see the knife through the fish.
Serves 6
This recipe nods to the days when upscale restaurants reverently draped smoked salmon over crisp lettuce and garnished their creation with capers. This classic threesome is still hugely appealing, though here capers form the base of a tongue-tingling sauce.
Salad leaves (cos or baby gems are best)
400g thinly sliced smoked salmon
Drained capers, for garnishing
Lemon or lime wedges, for squeezing
CAPER AND GREEN
PEPPERCORN SAUCE
2 T drained capers
1 T drained green peppercorns
2 spring onions, trimmed
and roughly chopped
125g crème fraîche
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sea salt and milled black pepper
Using a mortar and pestle, pound together the capers, green peppercorns and spring onions. (This may also be done in a food processor, but it’s much more fun to get up close and personal with the ingredients.)
Mix in the crème fraîche, and season with a generous squeeze of lemon juice and a little salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a bowl, cover and chill in the fridge for an hour or two to thicken. It may be refrigerated for up to three days.
TO SERVE
Arrange the salad leaves on plates, and scrunch the
smoked salmon artfully alongside or on top (if making
ahead, assemble an hour before serving, then cover
with clingfi lm and keep refrigerated, but don’t serve
straight from the fridge, as over-chilling dulls the
flavour of the fish).
A couple of whole capers and milled pepper over
everything – lettuce, salmon, plate, the works –
helps the appearance as well as the taste.
Garnish with lemon or lime wedges for squeezing,
but advise everyone to go easy on this if you’re
serving half-decent bubbles.
Serve the sauce separately.
