After 12 hours the salmon finally emerges and Ole returns from his bed nearby (he lives ‘above the shop’). In that time the salmon has lost about 30% of its weight, the skin is dry and the fish looks extraordinary. Ole slices it and we eat it on sourdough with a little crème fraiche.
This is not the usual fare of thinly sliced salty salmon. It is more sashimi-like, sliced vertically so that we taste all the flavours from the smokey surface to the freshness of the fish near the skin. The fish also has different tastes from tail to top - women in his experience generally prefer the saltier top but each of his part of the fish has its own fan club.
48 hours ago this fish was swimming in the wilderness between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic and now it is ready to dispatch to customers and restaurants. In tune with the whole process and with respect for the taste and texture the salmon is not vacuum packed but simply wrapped in paper.
