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Silky, buttery, aromatic smoked salmon is one of Christmas’s purest pleasures, yet salmon farms have a well-earned reputation for poor welfare and environmental damage, so choosing a sustainable one is more than a little daunting. Some certifications, however, are genuinely rigorous. My main guide, as ever, is the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) Good Fish Guide, which rates wild-caught Alaskan salmon as the best choice and ranks European Aquaculture Stewardship Council-certified salmon as a good farmed choice.
Organic salmon, meanwhile, scores well for feed sustainability, fish health and management, but fares pretty poorly for environmental impact. If you’re interested in the wider impacts of salmon farming, check out Off the Table and remember, there are delicious, sustainable alternatives out there.
★★★★☆
A thick D-cut, a hand-slicing technique, with dark flesh and a rich, smoky aroma. Pungent, deeply flavoured and satisfyingly firm and fleshy. Made with wild Alaskan sockeye salmon, Marine Stewardship Council-certified and rated green (the best choice) on the MCS’s Good Fish Guide. Outstanding sustainability credentials and excellent value for wild-caught fish.
★★★★☆
Thick-cut D-slices with a matt sheen and rich, orange hue. Medium oak smoke with a distinctly woody aroma and depth of flavour. Very firm texture. Made from ASC-certified and RSPCA Assured Hebridean farmed salmon.
★★★★☆
A thick D-cut with a sweet, umami aroma. Medium smoke level and a firm, fleshy texture. Made from wild sockeye salmon from Alitak Bay on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and smoked in Spey Bay, Scotland. Rated green by the MCS. Sugar-free, highly sustainable, and great value for wild fish.
★★★★☆
Thin D-cut slices with a medium, nutty beechwood smoke. A warm orange with an appealing sheen. Subtle smokiness allows the flavour of the fish to shine through. Oily, rich and buttery, with a soft texture. RSPCA Assured Scottish salmon with farm location marked on pack. Excellent quality and provenance for the price.
★★★★☆
Visually perfect and exceptionally fresh. Very thick vertical cut, almost like thin steaks, with brown meat and a smoky surface. Nuanced, complex, with nutty beechwood and pungent oak notes. Buttery, well-cured, rich but not oily. Scottish farmed salmon. Transparent sustainability policy. Most expensive in the test group, but also the most interesting.
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★★★☆☆
An archetypal Scottish smoked salmon, with long, thin D-cuts. Delicate oak and beechwood smoke aroma, and oily, rich and buttery flesh. Soft, fine texture. Scottish farmed salmon smoked by a heritage Aberdeen smokery established in 1857.
★★★☆☆
Very thin, wide D-cut slices with a rich medium smoke. Sweet, delicately flavoured, with a nuanced smokiness that builds in intensity. Firm but fine texture. Scottish farmed salmon, RSPCA Assured.
★★★☆☆
Medium-thick D-cut slices with a strong, assertive smoke level. Very rich and buttery, with deep, smoky notes that may be a bit overpowering for some tastes. Firm and satisfying mouthfeel. Farm location clearly marked on the pack. Organic and sugar-free, and solid value.
★★★☆☆
Thin lateral cut with a medium smoky aroma and nutty notes, without an outer crust. Delicately nuanced smokiness that complements the fish’s natural richness. Thin but firm, oily and luxurious in texture. Hand-trimmed by a heritage London smokehouse established in 1905. Sugar-free cure.
★★☆☆☆
Strikingly sweet aroma of maple syrup followed by an intense smokiness. D-cut slices with a dark, smoky edge that’s speckled with nutmeg and cayenne. Light, pinky-orange flesh with a firm, buttery texture. Made from Scottish farmed salmon. Excellent flavour and presentation for this price.
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