Hansen & Lydersen smoked salmon

I tasted some fantastic smoked salmon this week at The Albion in Islington. Actually I didn't order it so it was half demolished by the time I got to try it. As you can see from the photo.

It came from Hansen & Lydersen who are hardly new kids on the block having been smokers in Norway since 1923 but the youngest scion of the family, Ole Hansen, has now set up in Stoke Newington. Although the fish appears to receive quite robust treatment (they use, they say, 100% pure juniper, beech wood flour and chips from smoked products specialist Dansk Traemel and smoke the salmon for a minimum of 10 hours) the end result is very delicate subtle cure.

I think it rivals Frank Hederman and Ummera, up to now my favourite smokers.

They don't sell it vac packed as they think it destroys the quality. You can buy sides or fillets through Hubbub which organises an online service for independent shops in that part of North London

Fish for Thought

It's odd the ideas we now take for granted - like ordering fish on the internet but it makes abundant sense when you think how few people have access to a decent fishmonger these days and how second-rate supermarket fish counters are.

So I confess I really didn't need convincing when the PR for Fish for Thought, the new(ish) name for Cornwall-based online fishmonger Martins Seafresh asked if I'd like some of their fish to try. Including a lobster and who'd look a gift lobster in the mouth?

In fact I was rather more excited about the sardines and mackerel which were sparklingly fresh and reminded one how delicious - and healthy - these simple fish can be. (Maybe that's why they call it Fish for Thought - all that brain-boosting Omega 3?)

As we didn't want to stink out our flat with fishy smells we bought a disposable barbecue and cooked them down in the gardens below with some grilled fennel and courgettes I'd pre-cooked on a ridged grill - a simple, summery feast that made us feel as if we were camping by the sea.


The Cornish lobster was fine too although I never feel lobster is quite as good if it hasn't been freshly cooked - it seems to lose a bit of texture and sweetness in transit. But you can have it sent live if you're brave enough to dispatch it yourself.

It was much tastier than the ubiquitous Canadian Lobster you get nowadays though ironically more expensive given the shorter distance it had to travel - from £14.37 for a 0.6kg lobster to £29.94 for a 1.25kg one. At just £6.95 a kilo you could buy a lot of mackerel for that.

I'm lucky enough to have a good local fishmonger near where I live in Bristol - Mitch Tonks's Rockfish Seafood Market - but if I hadn't, and had a big enough freezer to store a delivery - I'd certainly use a service like this.

* Incidentally I noticed on the site that pollack which has been much touted as a sustainable catch is now £11.95 a kilo, the same price as haddock which has a much better flavour. Or go for the very reasonable whiting at just £8.96 a kilo.

Have you ever bought fish online and if not where do you buy it?