Parcel full of Delight

Aye aye beuy from lovely Orkney! I have finally made it home for my mum’s birthday and I am taking full advantage of the opportunity to indulge myself in the local produce for the weekend. 

Home ♥

For those of you who didn’t know, when I moved to Orkney many happy years ago, I worked in a pub called the Bothy who had many loyal regulars who grew to be great friends of mine (I really did spend more time with them than I did anyone else!), however through the grape vine (doesn’t take long up here) one of them heard that I was heading ‘home’ and presented me with a lovely gift. 

Organic Smoked Orkney Salmon. De-lic-ious.

I was in such a hurry to go home and ravish it. It had been so so long or at least it felt like a life time since I had last tasted the fresh, smoked, gorgeous texture of a product which is famous worldwide and lives right on my door step. The thought excites me! My love for the fish came about when I was on University placement at Orkney Herring and George (a said regular) wanted to show me around the factory where he worked to show me the different processes, and how salmon farming has changed over the years. From this I worked with a local fishmonger to develop a range of recipes, where incidentally my love for food writing was born and brought me to where I am today.

George and I in the Bothy having a well 
deserved drink to finish off our week!

However, I am always amazed at how many people adore Scottish Smoked Salmon and have absolutely no idea how it has ended up on their plate in it’s perfect, ready to nibble state, because it really is just one of those foods that we all take for granted, love the taste so much it is all we think about, but have no fear I’ll let you in on the secret on its journey to perfection.

There are two ways of smoking salmon, hot and cold; here in Scotland the cold method is used as it does not cook the fish which is what results in such a delicate texture. Traditionally smoke houses were used where the fish would be exposed to oak chips for a prolonged amount of time, however nowadays the industrial process introduces salt and uses cheaper woods which result in a blander taste. Unfortunately over fishing has meant that salmon has had to be farmed and /or sustainably caught which has meant the price has increased, determining it as a definite treat for me, which is why I have teamed it up with a guilty pleasure of mine, Philadelphia cheese! Yum!

My inspiration came from my barmaid days where I would smile for hours at functions, wishing it was me who was doing the eating, drinking and dancing and taking note of the buffet table and thinking how much more exciting it could look, with a few simple tweaks, so I have decided to share with you my ultimate favourite, which I have adapted into a starter.

Organic Orkney Smoked Salmon Parcels, with a cream cheese centre.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Salmon Parcels

8 slices of sliced Organic Orkney Smoked Salmon

200g Philadelphia

10 strands of chive, finely chopped, reserving 8 for decoration

½ a lemon juice

1 shallot, finely chopped, reserve a ¼ for salad dressing

Handful of rocket leaves

½ red onion

1 tomato

¼ cucumber

Balsamic vinaigrette dressing for salad

5g basil leaves

30ml balsamic vinegar

¼ shallot

30ml water

30ml honey

15ml olive oil

Black pepper

Method

Put the Philadelphia cheese, chives, lemon juice and shallot in a bowl and mix.

Distribute this between the salmon slices and roll them into little parcels. Tie each parcel with 2 chives and, if you can, make a little bow, Chill until needed.

Chopped vegetables to preferred size for the salad and mix with the rocket leaves.

Blend all vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor until smooth, and dress salad at the very last moment- to prevent the lettuce limping.