Bob proudly shows off our salmon
I had reservations about taking a whole sockeye salmon, freshly caught and flown in from Alaska, to a cookout. But it was my wife’s birthday and our friend Bob, artist and frontier cook, insisted he had cooked all kinds of fish big and small over his campfire. So we loaded the salmon in a cooler and headed for Bob’s cabin in the hills just this side of West Virginia.
Bob waits till the fire has turned to hot coals
What were my worries about this salmon? Mainly, that we didn’t have proper equipment to cook the slamon without it falling to pieces. I would hate to destroy such a lovely fish, which we had purchased as part of the fish buying club established by our friend Sam Fromartz after he’d spent time with an Alaskan fisherman. But obviously that was just needless fretting on my part.
Fortunately, we do own the proper equipment for this task: a basket designed to grill whole fish. We figured it would take a maximum 30 minutes for the fish to cook. Bob timed his fire accordingly, waiting until the flames died before postioning the salmon over the remaining hot coals. Note the clever use of concrete block.
A wire basket works perfectly for this salmon
The coals did a great job of crisping the skin. I was concerned the fish might be burned before it fully cooked. But this turned out not to be the case. Bob said he had considered stuffing the salmon, but I’m glad we didn’t. I don’t think stuffing adds much to whole fish. Bob then told a joke about stuffing bluefish with horse manure, cooking it to a crisp, then throwing the fish away and eating the horse manure. This is supposed to reflect the low esteem in which oily bluefish is held in some circles. But I happen to love bluefish smothered in mustard and apples and baked in the oven.
The finished salmon couldn't have looked lovelier
Okay, so you’ve been roasting your whole fish over the campfire. It looks like it might be done. How can you tell for sure?
Here’s my method: stick the point of a sharp knife into the thickest part of the fish. Hold it there for a couple of seconds. Remove the knife and press it lightly against your lower lip. If the metal is cold, the fish is not done. If it’s hot, you’ve overcooked your fish. If it’s warm, you are ready to eat.
Bob set a lovely table for our al fresco dinner of grilled whole salmon.
Cider, a perfect choice for our salmon
Bob’s son Vincent made a bold sauce of roasted tomatillos and leeks for our salmon. We brought along a pot of our curried okra, eggplant and coconut milk stew. Good food, good friends: It doesn’t get much better.
Happy birthday, Lane!
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
What a lovely birthday party! Happy birthday, (Holly) Lane! <3
Ed, thank you for the knife tip trick.