Smoked Salmon

I wish that I could say ‘Thank God it’s Friday!’ with some conviction, but the truth of the matter is that all the days are the same where I live. Most of them anyway. I had a rare visit from one of my oldest friends yesterday, a Canadian by the name of Murray he brought us a pound of smoked salmon for lunch, but he let me eat eighty percent of it.

Murray comes from north-western Canada and is a keen fisherman, so when he goes home every year, he returns with kilos of smoked salmon that he has caught and prepared himself according to his own recipe.

As well as smoked salmon, he usually brings halibut and crab, but there was no halibut this year and much less salmon too. He said that the commercial fishing boats had got there first and strained the sea bare of them.

That shouldn’t be allowed to happen, should it?

Smoked salmon is one of my favourite foods, after cheese, but he also gave me a one-pound salmon steak fillet. I’m looking forward to having that for tea this evening with lemon and boiled sweet potatoes.

Thais’ reaction to Murray’s smoked salmon can be strange. They don’t know what it is. I don’t think that smoking is a traditional Thai method of cooking, so I have seen Thai restaurant owners take a chunk of his smoked salmon, break it up, and mix it with salad and a dozen chillis. It was generally too hot for me to eat, but the delicate flavour of smoked salmon was completely lost. It seems to be their preferred way of eating it though.

I have always wanted to visit Lopburi, a city not far from here. Perhaps two hundred kilometres away to the south. It is famous for the ‘tame wild’ monkeys that inhabit the city centre like most places have pigeons. Apparently they are quite cheeky and will steal anything they can reach – cigarettes, lighters, bottles, purses, bags, wallets, you name it and the chance of recovering the items is very slim as they flee to the rooftops with their booty.

I have been wanting to go for ten years, but my wife doesn’t like the idea, so we haven’t been. However, our daughter has offered to go with me in six weeks time. I don’t know why they think I need a chaperone though.

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Smoked Salmon