Americans love their Salmon River . In 2017 , the rich , flaky fish lead the tilt of the state ’s favorite seafood , harmonize to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association ’s annualFisheries of the United States written report . And salmon also had the highest U.S. commercial note value , rake in $ 688 million . That ’s more than Cancer ( $ 610 million ) , lobster ( $ 594 million ) , shrimp ( $ 531 million ) and scallops ( $ 512 million ) .
Salmon also has some prettyamazing wellness benefits . It ’s loaded withomega-3 fatty Zen , fertile in other nutrients like vitamin viosterol and Se , and it ’s gamy in protein and low in saturated avoirdupois . It ’s also dim-witted to set : you could grill it , bake it , poach it , pan fry it , and of course smoke and cure it .
And when you ’re at the seafood or food shop counter , you ’ll belike find lox , nova and gravlax but the hard part is knowing which you want to order . What is the deviation between these three Salmon River preparation anyway ?
" These are all born from a pauperization to conserve thing , so they are all pickled , " executive chef Eric Sell of Osteria Mattone in Roswell , Georgia , explains . " No one in America wants to eat ' pickled fish ' . The art of preserving is not fall behind , but not a necessity , either . Hence no one experience what to call which type of cured Pisces what . "
Lox
rent ’s pop out with lox . From the Yiddish Good Book for Salmon River — laks — lox is a cured ( not smoke ) preparation often made with the fatty belly of the fish . Lox is saltiness cured , which means the salt mixed bag ( commonly a combination of salt , sugar , herbs , spices and citrus zest ) draws out the fish ’s wet . The fish takes on the flavor of the cure , so it often has a salty flavor .
Lox is often answer atop bagel with emollient cheese , red onion and capers . Today , however , many people use the condition lox interchangeably for other type of salmon preparations . " It is a term that is used very broadly speaking in our culture , " says chef Jon Schwenk of C&S Seafood & Oyster Bar in Atlanta . " If you want the venter , it is called venter lox and bestow a higher price because of the high fat content . "
Gravlax
Gravlax is similar to lox in that it ’s not smoked and is cured only . The traditional Norse method get its flavor from its cure of just salt , sugar and lots of dill weed , although additional spices , such as citrus fruit , coriander , juniper Berry or Florence fennel can be added . Some citizenry even add spirits like vodka or the Norse spirit aquavit .
Gravlax is usually assist whole as an appetizer . It ’s always sliced thin and often comes with a side of Anethum graveolens and Indian mustard sauce and with crispy bread or crackers .
Nova
The biggest difference between nova and lox and gravlax is nova is fume . The name nova refers to the Pisces coming from Nova Scotia , but not all smoke salmon is nova . Nova is stale smoked , which think of it ’s smoke over very down passion ( commonly about 80 degrees Fahrenheit [ 26 degrees Celsius ] ) to give it that smoky flavor . But because the temperature is so abject , the smoke process does not cook the Salmon River , it must be heal or brined first .
It may fathom complicated , but you may actuallymake nova at homejust as well as liquid oxygen or gravlax if you are willing to put in the time . Nova and other smoked Salmon River are best served up on a phonograph record slit thin with capers , hard - boiled egg , cucumbers , carmine onion and spreadable high mallow , with crackers and a sliced baguet .
