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Fine Dutch Salmon

A Dutch-style cured salmon seasoned with salt, saltpetre, chillies, garlic, and bay leaves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Fine Dutch Salmon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fish

  1. Prepare the fish by removing the backbone.

  2. Mix the coarse sea salt, saltpetre, bruised chillies, and minced garlic well.

  3. Rub the skin side of the fish with a large handful of the mixture.

Cure

  1. Lay the fish flat on a layer of rock salt in a tub.

  2. Strew bay leaves on the salt.

  3. Cover the fish with the remaining mixture.

  4. Place boards on top, weighting them down.

  5. Remove the weights daily.

  6. Apply more seasoning.

  7. Add fresh bay leaves on the third morning.

Finish

  1. On the fifth morning, take the salmon out of the tub.

  2. Stretch it open at the back with wooden splints.

  3. Rinse it quickly in saltwater.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the fish and firms its flesh while curing.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the fish and gives the cured flesh its characteristic pink colour.
Bruised chillies
Adds heat and aroma to the cure.
Minced garlic
Adds savoury aroma to the cure.
Bay leaves
Add a subtle aromatic flavour to the salt layer and fish.

The step that matters

Weighting the boards during the cure. Pressure pushes salt and brine evenly through the flesh and expels liquid. Removing the weights daily and reapplying seasoning keeps the cure even, so the fish does not stay wet or under-salted in patches.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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