Lox is a name to describe a specific portion of salmon and its exact curing process. While many manufacturers, grocers, and markets label smoked salmon as lox or visa-versa, they are prepared differently.
Some people prefer lox, while others prefer the flavor of smoked salmon. Either way, both are delicious.
When dining out, no one ever asks. Remember, lox should have a healthy-looking sheen or glistens, as shown in the picture above.
LOX is simply salmon cured using dry salt or cured in a saltwater brine (sometimes adding additional spices like sugar. Lox comes from the belly (underside) of the salmon, a bit salty and beautifully striped with fat. It usually takes several days to cure lox.
NOVA LOX is wild-caught salmon specifically from Nova Scotia, Canada. But not much salmon comes out of that area today. So now it is a general term for brine-cured salmon that is cold-smoked.
The fish is first cured and then cold smoked. It’s similar in taste and texture to traditional lox but with a less salty flavor than regular lox, and a slightly smokey taste has been added. Today, most restaurants serve only Nova, and they have stopped doing traditional lox because the request for regular lox has dwindled, and it’s too pricy to carry both kinds.
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| GRAVADLAX |
GRAVADLAX (Gravad lax or Gravlax) is the Scandinavian preparation of lox. The origin of Gravlax can be traced back to 14th-century North Sweden. In the Middle Ages, salt was expensive, and most foods had to be preserved using alternative methods. In northern Sweden, peasants and fishermen developed a unique technique called Gravlax (“buried salmon,” hence the name Gravlax): The filleted salmon was placed in a hole in the earth, covered with birch bark, and laid in a bath of water, various herbs, and spices, including salt, sugar, dill, juniper, and optionally, the Scandinavian liquor, Aquavit.
Aquavit is compaired to a spiced vodka. Aquavit was first documented in Sweden in 1467 when it was cited in instructions for lighting gunpowder. It soon became a popular liquor that, today is 40% alcohol and distilled from potato or grain mash also called akvavit. It’s made just like Gin but uses caraway instead of juniper. The result was a rather strong-smelling product that would be closer to today's infamous Surströmming (fermented herring) than the Gravlax that is eaten nowadays.
Aquavit
SMOKED SALMON is prepared by smoking the fish instead of salting or using brine. While lox is the belly of a fish, smoked salmon can be from any part of the fish. The salmon is then either cold-smoked or hot-smoked.
Hot Smoked salmon is placed at 145° F smoker for eight hours, achieving a thicker, darker texture that loses its translucency, and is flakier than cold smoked in texture, simular to oven-baked salmon fillets.Cold Smoked salmon is placed in a 70° F-smoker for the better part of a day and more closely resembles traditional lox.
Pacific Ocean - Gulf of Alaska: Salmon Species: Pink, Sockeye, Coho, Chum (Keta), Chinook, Steelhead, and Cutthroat salmon.
Atlantic Ocean has only one species: Atlantic Salmon.
Atlantic, Sockeye, King, or Coho salmon have a higher fat content, perfect for lox and smoked fish.
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| Most deli countermen never got the hang of slicing Lox this thin. Since lox is sold by weight, slicing it paper-thin would nearly guarantee a customer’s return. If one slice holds together when it’s picked up with fingers, it’s fresh. |
Other fish that make it to the ‘lox & bagel’ Sunday morning brunch include smoked Sturgeon, Sable, Chubs (served whole, as a small single-serving size whitefish), and Whitefish (from a large fish) steak cut.
My family had lox, a few slices of either Sturgeon or Sable and a few chubs for our Sunday brunch. Not many people I knew served capers but salty Greek black olives instead. Every Sunday, without fail. It was a tradition I cherish, and will never forget Sundays with my family.
Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
