A brief review of Sam's wild caught sockeye salmon

Friends,

What grace are our friends and neighbors. One such anonymous neighbor shared the beauty of music with me yesterday. Today, a known neighbor went to Sam's for me. I gave her a list which included fresh skin-on salmon and mushrooms. She was so kind and purchased both, excitedly telling me that the salmon was $2 off a pound, down to $10.

This price immediately made my mind send a question mark symbol to my eyes. I have purchased Sam's salmon for years, and it usually is $7.99 per pound for the skin-on, which I prefer, as I enjoyed eating the skin and the skin allows you to get a better sear at high temperatures of the lateral side of the fish. Occasionally, in the summer, the price drops to $6.99 per pound. I have never seen it as high as $10 or $12.

Then my gracious neighbor handed the two slabs across the fence, which I grasped with my gloved hands before quickly disinfecting it with diluted Clorox. At once, I understood the price problem. She had purchased wild caught sockeye salmon.

Previously, I've only had such salmon in restaurants, so I was actually a little excited to try this new fish on the grill. It looked beautiful, with smaller, denser muscle fibers, less fat, and a deep orange.



The gas grill was up to 650 by the time I was finished oiling, salting and peppering the non-skin side. I threw the slab on the grill.

Before that, I also prepared some crimino mushrooms by slicing them, throwing them in a bowl, and mixing with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I usually cook these in my pan on the stove, but I figured since I was trying a new salmon, I would try grilled mushrooms. I put all the mushrooms, sliced in half, in a little aluminum foil packet and threw them on the grill.



After only a minute, I struggled to flip the sockeye. Its flesh tried to remain attached to the hot grill plates, but I was able to liberate it in one piece. The skin of this sockeye is less hearty compared to the farm raised salmon to which I am accustomed.

After a few more minutes, the salmon was beyond ready. The skin fell off, and I tried it. "Marvelous!" I yelled out so loud I hope Neighbor heard. The skin tasted like the salmon skin roll I occasionally get at Shogun, New Orleans's best Japanese and sushi restaurant (and by extension, the best in the South).

The meat was less appealing. I found it did not have that delicious flavor of salmon and fat. It was very meaty, and I understand why bears enjoy it. I could feel my own muscles fasciculating, as though they were about to balloon and pop out of my old Goldberg's suit like an Episcopalian Hulk. Muscular as I was feeling, my taste buds did not have a similarly positive experience.

I will say that the meat was far more filling than a similar amount of regular salmon, likely due to the higher protein per weight ratio. The mushrooms turned out very nice and I am currently eating them as I enjoy my first classic Coca Cola in a least a few months. In the end, though, I am a civilized human, not a wild grizzly. I much prefer farm raised salmon to fresh caught.



Friends, I hope your days are beautiful and marvelous and that you will share love and affections with all those you meet, whether in person or online or in spirit.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

P.S. I almost forgot to include a picture of the finished salmon. I must say that the fat turned a quite unpleasant shade of yellow-green, much like mucus or gonococcal discharge.