When you buy Salmon, the best thing to do if possible is to buy a whole one. It’s much cheaper than buying individual steaks and you get more for your money.

Keep an eye out for offers at supermarkets or at the market, around holidays & sometimes midweek the price per kg will often be reduced by up to 50%, make sure you have room in your freezer before you buy it!

Remember if you do buy a whole Salmon you can ask the fishmonger where you buy it from to fillet the fish & pin bone it for you (this means cutting the flesh from the bones and pulling the small bones out). You can ask them to keep the head & back bones for you though as you’ve paid for them in the price. These are the bits which make the best stock & pate. It’ll save you time if they do this for you as it requires some skill.

How to cut the side of Salmon

• • First cut the belly off the salmon, you will see it as being a slightly paler colour; just slice it off with a sharp knife.
• • Next cut the tail off, this is the narrow end of the salmon.
• • Keep these cut off pieces separate – they’re great to use in fishcakes.
• • Now you are left with the best part of the salmon. Slice it into equally sized steaks (you can chose how big or small you want them)
• • Check with your fishmonger/supermarket first, but if the fish is fresh – which it usually is – you can freeze any of the steaks you don’t want to cook and use them again. Make sure you defrost them thoroughly before cooking them.
• • You should get approximately 14 generous steaks from a whole salmon.

Fish Soup

What you need:

- Large Heavy Bottomed Saucepan
- Fish head
- Leftover vegetables
- Few leftover tomatoes
- Water
- Knob of butter
- (White Wine – Optional)

• • Fry the fish head with a little butter.
• • Add any leftover vegetables from the fridge, and then add a little water & tomatoes. (Also add some white wine if you have any open)
• • Bring it to the boil & simmer it all together for 30 minutes.
• • Take it off the heat & remove the fish head.
• • Either strain to use as a stock or puree to eat as a soup.

(You can also add the backbone & tail as well if you want to add more flavour, there will still be a lot of meat on the bones.)

Fish Pâté

What you need:

- Shallow Frying Pan
- Backbone of Salmon with leftover meat on it
- Metal Spoon
- Small amount of butter
- Herbs
- Crème Fraîche
- Lemon

• • Take a metal spoon and run it along the bones, taking the excess fish off the bones.
• • Cook the salmon in a frying pan, add some melted butter, chopped herbs, few spoonfuls of crème fraîche and a squeeze of lemon.
• • Mix it all together & take it off the heat.
• • Pour into a small container and leave it in the fridge to set overnight.