Wild-caught salmon are becoming scarce and expensive as we pollute, dam and over-fish our waterways. Farm-raised salmon are usually what we’re served in restaurants and sold by most fishmongers.
Wild-caught salmon are safer and more nutritious because they swim freely, fast and long distances to hunt for food, and thus develop sturdier flesh and more Omega 3-rich fat.
Farm-raised salmon, on the other hand, live in crowded ocean-pens and are fed a mixed (and in many cases, not the best) diet that is laced with antibiotics, anti-fungal and other medications to keep them alive and at least healthy looking enough to be sold.
What most consumers don’t realize is that salmon is so filling and nutritious that even a small piece can go a long way if well prepared and combined with less expensive but equally healthy vegetables and other side-dishes. (With leftovers from the Baked and Poached Salmon recipes you will find under “Entrées” in the “Recipes with Pizzazz” section, for example, a good cook can create a gourmet Pasta Primavera with Veggies and Salmon. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…)
Having priced an average portion of this dish, each with sides of organic vegetables and rice, at various times when the cost of wild-caught salmon fluctuated between $12.50 and $22.00 a pound—and taking into consideration how far we were able to stretch it with the creative use of leftovers—we found it to add up to no more than $5.25 and no less than $4.10.
Conclusion: Far from a splurge, buying wild-caught salmon for a home-cooked meal is actually frugal because small portions are filling, nutritious and too delicious to waste. But do treat it with respect by using organic ingredients with it, whenever possible.
• Keep tabs on the daily catch of your local fishmonger to snag your share while free-roaming king salmon is still on our menu.
Dina Eliash Robinson