Conference turris::cooks

	I live in central Mass.  Depending on the season I've seen fresh salmon
steaks from $4 to $8 per pound.  I only buy it when it's cheap (and that's 
relative).
			Al

    i find salmon in fresh fish markets to be one (if not the) most
    expensive fish around.  especially smoked!  the quarterdeck (a very
    pricy fresh fish market here in massachusetts) gets $19.98/lb for
    their smoked salmon fillets.  their regular fillets are about $10/lb
    and i can't remember if the steaks were less or more expensive than
    that.  the grocery crap (i really shouldn't say that) you can get
    for $5.99/lb (steaks) when they are on sale but i find very few
    grocery stores that carry good fresh fish.  and buying frozen just
    isn't the same, ya know?
    

    I bought FRESH salmon Sunday night at the Purity Supreme in Nashua
    and it was $3.99/lb.  It was delicious!  THe P/S in Nashua has great
    fresh fish...always.  Try it.

    RE:smoked being expensive
    
    You have to remember that only the largest fish are smoked and that
    a lot of the fish is discarded when it gets filleted (most modern
    plants nowadays mash this up and sell it as paste etc). Another
    strange fact is that over here they prefer to freeze salmon before
    smoking it as it helps make it more tender. All this together with
    the preperation pulling the bones out with plyers etc.. all takes
    time.
    
    A way to tell a well smoked fish is to make sure there are no gaps
    between the layers of flesh, it should be a smooth run from top
    to bottom.
    
    On another spur (keep coming with the prices) has any one tried
    doing DIY smoking I read a few books on it a few months ago but
    have not yet had the time to try it. Apparently there are two types
    of smoking cold and hot, salmon is cold smoked.From the details
    in the book it appeared you could just about smoke anything if you
    set your mind to it.
    
    
    Iain..
              

    In Britain prices tend to be a little seasonal
    
    You can pay anything from �2.00 a pound upwards for fresh fish
     The more you buy the cheaper it gets but that the same with most things.
    
    Smoked salmon over here is extremely expensive �6 a pound upwards
    depending on where you buy it.
    
    You get lots of little extras like say salmon that was soaked in
    brim that was spiked with various varietys of whisky. Also the
    type of salmon that you are dealing with ie Grisle tends to be cheaper.
    
    There are two types of salmon on sale over here at the moment
    Farmed and Wild some people say they can tell the difference, I
    cannot but I suppose that is a matter of taste. Farms can even supply
    a deep red to a pink colour depending on what you prefer, this is
    done with feed additives.A way to spot the difference between the
    two is that the wild fish will have a larger tail and dorsal fin.
    The farmed fish on the other hand has a dorsal fin that has just
    about disappeared due to rubbing the sides of the net.
    
    The reason I know all this is that as a student a few years ago
    I used to work on a salmon farm.
                                                    
    I don't know how these prices work out in comparison taking the
    exchange rate into account.
                      
    The fish that you have mentioned to date, is that pacific salmon
    I am note sure but I think we have a different type over here.
    I don't know how that would fit into our comparisons.         
                                             
    
    Iain..
    
                                   
    
    

The Quarterdeck in Maynard, mentioned in .1, usually sells Scottish Smoked 
Salmon.  In most US places, smoked salmon comes in 3 varieties:
	
	lox		excessively salty, mediocre smoked salmon
	nova lox	less salty, average smoked salmon
	smoked salmon	usually imported from UK/Ireland, excellent

The best I've ever had was purchased at Moran's near Galway Ireland, and hand 
carried back home.  The price at the time (several years ago) was about $8/lb, 
but the dollar was much stronger back then, too.

						     
							- JP

    	
    	I have not tried the Salmon here in the states, but I had some
    while I was in Ireland a couple of years back.  You can order it
    from Cash's of Ireland and it runs $69.00 for 2 pounds of Smoked
    Salmon.

    $1.97a pound, whole or half... in Framingham, MA! who can beat that?
    Ana

    
        The local Shop & Save chain has Alaskan Salmon steaks of fillets this
    week for $2.99/lb. for any amounts. I was thinking of getting some fillets
    this weekend for the smoker.                         

    Lovely fresh Atlantic Salmon can be got here at present for about 6 10
    Ir Pounds. Thats about 10-15 dollars each.
    
    MBr