SALMON THAT DOESN’T STINK I hate salmon With a passion Chalky, dry, smelly, slimy-skinned, the worst of the worst when it comes to fish At least, that’s what I would’ve said about a decade ago, when the only salmon I had tasted was the overpoached stuff at buffets or overcooked specimens at restaurants that, frankly, didn’t know what they were doing I don’t know if I was running in the right circles, but it seemed de rigueur in my youth for everyone to cook salmon to a shade just past well-done We didn’t exit these culinary dark ages until sometime in the 1990s, by which time my bias against the fish had been firmly established It wasn’t until I started cooking in nice restaurants (the kind that I could never afford to go to as a civilian) that I realized that it wasn’t the salmon that was at fault, but rather the cook Properly cooked salmon is amazing, whether it’s got crisp, crackly skin that can rival the best roast chicken’s or tender, moist, flavorful meat that melts on your tongue like butter (or sometimes both!) There’s a reason after all, why salmon is the most popular fresh fish in this country, and why it’s the fish I’ve chosen to work mainly with here That said, the techniques I’m going to discuss apply to any thick, robust fish fillets, such as halibut, red snapper, or sea bass PAN-SEARING SALMON There’s an unholy trinity of fates that can befall salmon If you’ve ever cooked salmon, these are probably all too familiar sights: The Picked Scab Flaky bits of salmon flesh that get stuck to the pan as it cooks Not only does it make the cooked fillet look like a pockmarked teenage crater-face, it also makes the pan a bitch and a half to clean when you’re done The Leatherhead ... stuck to the pan as it cooks Not only does it make the cooked fillet look like a pockmarked teenage crater-face, it also makes the pan a bitch and a half to clean when you’re done The Leatherhead...There’s an unholy trinity of fates that can befall salmon If you’ve ever cooked salmon, these are probably all too familiar sights: The Picked Scab Flaky bits of