Have you tried Steelhead as an alternative? Someone else may be able to provide an explanation of the actual difference between the two but to me Steelhead is a freshwater salmon (trout?) that lacks any of the “fishy” taste you might find objectionable in other salmon. We buy it regularly at around $6 or $7/lb and it’s great on the grill.
My new favorite though is Chilean Sea Bass. Holy smokes but it’s good! Moist without being oily, natural butter taste, there’s a fresh cut in my fridge and we’ll be enjoying it tonite.
I’ve been salmon fishing on Lake Michigan before (Coho or Chinook?). Tasted great roasted with orange and fennel. Served on a bed of spinach linguine. Mmmm…brb
It’s also easy to overcook salmon. Maybe yours isn’t prepared properly? Do try the wild salmon–I will not buy Atlantic salmon. If you get the chance, try some Copper River salmon. I have it shipped to me, so you don’t have to live anywhere near there to purchase it.
Oily fishes like salmon and tuna are best served rare to medium rare (generally rare for tuna, med rare for salmon), otherwise their “fishiness” becomes more pronounced the more it is cooked. Doing it this way does require some diligence as to the provenance of your fish, though.
Some of the best salmon dishes I’ve had: gravlax salmon, smoked salmon and cream cheese pinwheels, salmon grilled and served with a horseradish creme sauce, and grilled salmon with braised oxtail and demi-glace.
For some reason the image of someone force-feeding salmon popped into my head. I’m still chuckling.
I’m not sure how I could mention any of these suggestions to my wife without also telling her that I was denigrating her cooking skills on the net. She’s a lovely woman, mostly, but about some things she has no sense of humor.
When I was growing up, my mom made these awful croquets from canned salmon. For a long time I hated fish in general because of that.
Years later, a girlfriend brought over a beautiful slab of fresh salmon and cooked it perfectly for dinner. My whole opinion of fish changed overnight. I really love blackened salmon, but making it at home can be tricky if you don’t have adequate ventilation. The first time I tried it, the smoke filled my apartment and set off all the detectors. The whole place smelled like charred fish for a week.
While I was growing up my family never ate fish. My mom doesn’t like it and so never cooked it. I assumed that since I was her daughter I would not like all of the things she doesn’t like and sadly missed years of yummy things like rice and asparagus and blue cheese.
The very first time I ever had salmon was as a guest at someone’s home near Olympia, WA. We were pplanning our day when their phone rang. It was their daughter calling to say she’d caught a salmon and was bringing it over. There were friends of parents of a friend so I didn’t feel comfortable piping up that I wouldn’t care for any. I’m so glad I didn’t. It was indescribably good.
The bad news is that no salmon I have had in the intervening 20 years has ever approached the perfection of that meal.
My husband tends to buy a lot when it’s on sale and I’ve tried a number of preparations but regardless of the origin of the fish I always find that I prefer it just broiled with a little lemon.
After saying all that really what I meant to post is that you are well within your rights not to like it.
You are correct, Steelhead are rainbow trout (a salmon relative) that goes out to sea. Fun to catch, even better to eat. A salmon or steelhead fillet properly grilled on a cedar plank is heavenly.
Heh. I grew up in Alaska, and so salmon is something you haul out of the freezer when it’s a few more days til the end of the month and the checking account is getting low. Yum, salmon loaf again! :smack:
I don’t mind eating salmon if that’s what’s being served, but would certainly never order it at a restaurant. I’d eat silver, or red or king, but chum or pink (or atlantic) isn’t worth eating, except smoked. In Alaska chums are called dog salmon, because they were traditionally fed to the sled dogs–one salmon per dog per day.
And there’s a heck of a big difference between a frozen salmon turned into salmon loaf, and a grilled slab of fresh king or red salmon medium rare.
Wow, do you only eat fish that are on their way to being endangered.
You’re a little wrong about Steelhead being a freshwater salmon. They are sea-run rainbow trout. Both trout and salmon are part of the same family. AFAIK, there are some salmon that are “landlocked.”
Speaking of Chilean Sea Bass, Monkfish, which kind of look like the Sea Bass have the best tasting liver ever!
Anyway, I agree with the OP salmon taste horrible. Although, the few I caught during my vacation (Sockeyes caught in a river) to Alaska were quite tasty. Saltwater caught salmon are said to taste better.
My mother ruined me on salmon by forcing me to eat salmon patties as a child. She left the vertebrae from the canned salmon in the patties. Urgk! I will not eat cooked salmon. Salmon sashimi, however, is tasty stuff.
My wife’s father was a commercial fisherman here at the mouth of the Columbia, on the Pacific coast. She had salmon so often when she was young that she can’t stand it anymore.
I like Spring Chinook, as it is very fat and oily. But most of the rest are easy to pass up. The pink flesh looks appealing but I’d rather have a good sole, halibut or sturgeon.
I don’t get this “tastes too fishy” thing. It’s fish, what should it taste like? I never hear anyone say “I don’t like steak, it’s too meaty” or I don’t like fruit, it’s too fruity". Why don’t you just say I don’t like things that have any pronounced flavor. It’s been a bad week for me, I’ve been hanging around people that don’t like mushrooms, uncooked tomatoes, green vegetables, blue cheese, salmon, red wine, or any herbs and spices other than salt and pepper. One won’t eat rare meat the other won’t eat meat any way other than bloody. I just don’t get picky eaters.
Also, salmon is one of the fishes that do not need to be served really fresh to be good. Some people recommend that it rest a day or two before being eaten.
Because fishy has a largely negative connotation. The best way to tell if fish is going bad in a market is by whether it smells fishy or not :). And fishy flavors in things like milk/butter, chicken eggs and wine ( and it can occur in all three, the first two due to mutations ) are all considered BAD by most.
Now some folks like the slightly stronger “fishyness” of oily fish like bonitas or anchovies, but many, many do not. And in most fish it is considered undesirable. You’ll find that instuctions for cleaning certain types of fish often emphasize such things as bleeding them to cut down on the fishy flavors.
Annoying to be sure, I sympathize and, having had similar experiences, I also empathize. But…
It still must be said that strong flavors aren’t necessarily good just because they’re strong.
As to the OP: I don’t like salmon all that much myself. I grew up on fresh young silver salmon on the Pacific Coast, so I know from the decent stuff. It just doesn’t rock my world. I like mild, firm, white fishes like lingcod, cabezon or halibut. Not a big deal - I don’t hate the stuff either and have eaten it many a time and would at least pick at it if set before me.
I’m used to everyone thinking I’m crazy and I don’t resent it. I reserve the right to think the same of those who dislike crab ;). I also don’t care much for mussels, clams and oysters, but love scallops and abalone. We all have different preferences.
Salmon is the cattle of the sea. If you are, as a friend of my describes it, a “fishatarian” (i.e. a vegetarian that eats fish flesh) then it is probably at the squicky end of the scale. For those of us who enjoy a good buffalo or elk steak, however, salmon is the closest thing to it. I particularly like salmon because unlike most other delicate-flavored fish, you can order a medium body pinot noir or zinfandel with it and not get a cross-eyed look from the waiter. (While I don’t mind making waiters cross-eyed, it does pain me when I generally agree with their assessment.)
Just don’t order the salmon of doubt. That is bad salmon.
If anyone thinks the fish they’re eating tastes or smells “fishy,” they’re eating horribly old or rancid fish. Good, fresh fish doesn’t smell like anything but the sea.
I’m still chuckling.