SALMON
Salmon (Salmo salar) is a very popular fish due to the special tasting flesh and of course its color. Salmon is recognized by its long, swimmer-type body, small head, silvery skin with black dots, and a typical small fin just close to the tail fin. This fish can be quite large, 150 cm/5 feet long and 50 kg/100 lb. big. However, most of the times, salmon that is caught in our waters is about 5 kg/10 lb, and it can be caught both in the sea and in the freshwater where it goes to reproduce itself during the fall. Obviously, the best season for salmon is spring and summer, and also in early fall, and the salmons caught during summer have more fat than the ones in the spring. This is worth to notice since it will affect the way the fish will taste and behave in your dishes.
The young salmons live in freshwater for a few years and are naturally not so big, so if you try to catch them on your own you might want to go to the seaside instead. There in the sea they get really big, as they live there for another number of years. During the summers though, the salmon gets back to the freshwater reservoairs to make some new babies. They usually dig down their fish eggs in the bottom sediment of a lake. Nowadays, it is also popular to grow salmon in fish farms, but since they are placed so close to the coasts the fish there are more exposed to the industrial waste that is dumped into the sea. A study has also shown that sea lice that naturally live on adult salmons, and which is then concentrated in salmon farms, will kill a lot of small salmons that are migrating out into the sea. Not so good... It is also said that wild salmon is tasting better than the farmed salmon. One argument against eating wild salmon however is that there is not so much of it left in its natural habitat.
See a short video of salmon in its natural environment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxE4fEpzqgY
The flavor of salmon is very appreciated, and it is also very nutritious thanks to the high amount of good fat, packed with omega-3. However, too much of salmon is not so good either, as you might know. During the past decades, high industrial waste dumped in the sea ends up residing in the salmon, since this fish is on the top of the chain of nutrition. In short, salmon eats other fish that have eaten other fish that have eaten plankton. The amount of e.g. mercury (a hazardous metal) becomes more concentrated in the fish for every step in the chain, and the big predators (as salmons are) with high fat content end up with accumulated amounts of industrial garbage. This is why salmon is not recommended to be consumed in high amounts by pregnant women.
Since salmon is so fatty and flavorful you can treat it with lots of other ingredients, not necessarily mild ones. Lemon is a classic and it cuts nicely through the rich flavor of the fish. It can be grilled since it is not too flaky, and the grill will give it a nice smoky flavor. Obviously, salmon can also be smoked! Good ingredients to combine with salmon include dill, tarragon, tomato, lime, lemon, leeks, parsley, or cucumber. If you want more sting to the fish try horseradish, vinegar, some wine, shallots, and black pepper. Some of these ingredients are actually perfect for making a nice hollandaise sauce to serve with the salmon. Butter is of course a classic ingredient when it comes to add extra flavor to fish, and salmon is perfect for a buttery finish, so either a sauce or a simple butter mix with herbs or other seasonings will do good.