MILD CURING OF SALMON" IN CALIFORNIA IS 



SALE AFTER SMOKING 



In the cities the smoked sides are delivered in the morning by- 

 peddlers to shops retailing- the product. The amount smoked is 

 just enough for the day's trade, so the smoke is repeated each day. 

 The smoked sides lose color rapidly and therefore they are better 

 used as fresh as possible, but they can be kept over two weeks if held 

 in cold storage after smoking. In the stores tlie sides are sliced on 

 the bias, diagonally through the flakes or grain, in very thin slices. 

 When the flakes are not solid, as in broken fish, the slicing is diffi- 

 cult and thin slicing impossible. Broken, thin, " B's " or No. 2's, 

 and culls are sliced thick and put up in olive oil in 1-gallon sealed 

 tins. Slightly broken fish is sometimes sliced as thin as possible and 

 put up with oil in flat or half-pound cans. In shipping the smoked 

 sides to out-of-town trade they are packed in a shallow box, two 

 sides to the box, or four if the sides are small, the smoked fish being 

 first wrapped in waxed paper. The smoked mild cure is sold readily 

 in German communities of the eastern United States, but more is 

 sold to the Jewish trade, especially in New York. It is used instead 

 of meat, taking the place of bacon, as the thin slices are delicious 

 heated in a pan and served with eggs. The slices are largely used 

 as meat in sandwiches. Although a high-class trade takes the better 

 grades, great quantities are used in the sweatshops in lunches for 

 the laborers. Before the war more mild cure went to Germany than 

 was used in the United States. Now practically all of the California 

 pack is consumed in the eastern cities of this country and very little 

 is sold locally on the Pacific coast. 



OCEAN AND RIVER FISH 



Open-sea salmon caught by trolling are tender fleshed and fat, 

 and as they are feeding they soon taint from belly burn and have to 

 be handled more carefully and packed as soon as possible the same 

 day as caught. If held over until the next day they are almost sure 

 to be soft. Salmon on the journey up river to spawn are harder 

 fleshed, with empty stomachs, and will keep longer. On the Sacra- 

 mento Iliver a common practice is to clean the fish and ice them down 

 on the floor overnight to draw out the " muddy " or " tule " taste, 

 and it is also claimed that they will split more easily if so held until 

 the following day. The fall-run Sacramento fish from warm and 

 muddy water have a more decided " river " taste and '' mudd}'' smell " 

 than the spring run. 



COLOR AND FAT VARIATION 



There is much variation in the salmon caught at various localities 

 along the Pacific coast. Broadly speaking, the southern catch 

 (Monterey, especially) has a high percentage of pale, but few, if any, 

 white fish. In northern California and Oregon nearly all of the 

 salmon are red, and further north they are red but with a higher 

 percentage of white salmon. Puget Sound chinooks are said to be 

 15 to 20 per cent white, and in Alaska about 20 per cent white. 



The oil content seems to be more variable than color, and also less 

 consistent as to locality. The fall runs in both the Columbia and 



