Chefco Salmon Workshop with Chef Tim

Chefco does it again! Today chef guests from casual and fine dining restaurants joined to learn about NZ SALMON. Kiwi Chef Tim prepared and served Ora King and Mt Cook salmon in 4 beautiful recipes for everyone to try and shared lots of tips, tricks and info along the way.

Some takeaways from today, or, a brief overview of NZ salmon:

All New Zealand King Salmon is farmed around the South Island of New Zealand – Marlborough, Canterbury and Southland – with a few smaller farms in the dams of central Canterbury.

Worldwide - below 1% of salmon species are classified as King Salmon (CHINOOK Salmon), which is regarded as the top salmon species.This is because of its superior taste, texture and colour.

New Zealand produces upwards of 6500MT of salmon per year – which is below 1% of the global market. Water temperatures for NZ King Salmon are generally 14-18C. Colder water makes salmon grow slower and develop a rich / clean taste. (It takes around 2&1/2 years for fish to reach ideal weight).

NZ King salmon is also raised responsibly
• low stock densities means NZ farmers do not need to use the antibiotics that are often used in salmon farms internationally. Farms are also free of vaccines
• Most King Salmon farms also have BAP certification. BAP stands for “Best Aquaculture Practices“ and is the highest form of 3rd party certification an aquaculture farm can acquire. This ensures NZ King Salmon is both healthy for the consumer and safe for the environment and future of the species.
• Certification ensures farms do not damage the surrounding eco systems.

Taste: (for those who couldn't make it!)
• NZ King Salmon is generally sweeter than its European counterparts
• Much cleaner mouth feel, which doesn’t linger on the pallet after eating.
• Salmon – if treated incorrectly, can have a sticky mouth feel – NZ salmon has much lower chance of tasting that way.

Texture:
• Soft and smooth thanks to the high fat content.
• NZ King Salmon flesh is firm to the touch despite being buttery in mouth feel. This is a great combination – unique to NZ Salmon.
• The fish are rounder than the European varieties – meaning a larger belly. The belly has the highest fat and a super buttery texture.

Colour:
• Bright orange flesh colour – year round. Great consistency due to grading programs and cool water.
• High fat content – high marbling. NZ King Salmon has strong marbling from having a much higher fat content


Thanks chef Tim for your amazing presentation and to our chefco chefs for coming over.

Happy cooking