Thanks to the folks at Foley Fish for this superfine salmon
Earlier this month, the New York Times ran a big story exposing the bad practices of the vast majority of commercial fish farms. While most of the seafood we sell at the Roadhouse is wild-caught, we do have a couple of offerings that are always farmed. Most prominently, that would be the Bay of Fundy salmon that we’ve served so much of for nearly a quarter century now. And while the poor practices detailed in the Times piece are indeed awful, they really reinforce why we have diligently stuck to this special farmed salmon from way up north in Eastern Canada!
As the article reveals, one of the rarely talked-about realities of the restaurant world is that there are BIG differences in the quality (read flavor, texture, and production processes) of farm-raised salmon. And since, to be clear, there is no wild-caught Atlantic salmon in American eateries right now, that means there can be very significant variations between two items listed on the menus of their respective restaurants simply as “salmon.”
Knowing that reality very well, we’ve been determinedly buying fish from the Foley family to broil, grill, and sauté at the Roadhouse every week since we first opened the restaurant’s doors back in September 2003. Then and now, Foley Fish has been one of the best of the best. As Michael Foley, the grandson of the founder, writes in Swimming Upstream, his history of the family and their now 120-year-old fish business, “We have always had an absolute standard quality, not a relative one. ‘Best available’ or ‘good enough’ have never been good enough.”
Today, the Foley folks are still just as committed to the quality of their fish, and they’re also at the forefront of promoting sustainability in the seafood world. Foley is as picky about who they sell to as what they sell; we feel honored to be one of their accounts. As Frank Foley, Michael’s dad, whom I met many years ago on a visit to Boston, says, “Foley’s gimmick is quality. … Quality comes before everything. It’s the reason why profit is always the bottom line of a profit-and-loss statement—it comes after quality.”
The Bay of Fundy itself is an amazing place. Off the eastern coast of Canada, tucked into the Canadian Maritimes between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine, it was recently named one of the “Seven Natural Wonders of North America.” Its remarkable tidal range of about 50 feet is the highest in the world—the average is just over three feet! Better water movement in the bay most definitely makes for healthier farmed salmon. And, in the context of what I wrote a few weeks ago about the amazing Indigenous Canadian folk musician Willie Dunn, it’s smack-dab in the center of the lands of the Mi’kmaq people, to which Dunn belonged.
What makes this particular Bay of Fundy fish so good?
1. Time out of the water. The Bay of Fundy salmon gets to Foley’s within 30 hours, and to the Roadhouse the following day! (Most salmon, often coming from Chile, Norway, or New Zealand, is 48 to 130 hours old before it even reaches the distributor, let alone the restaurant.)
2. The quality of the feed. For Foley’s Bay of Fundy salmon, no chemicals are used, and wild herring is added to boost both flavor and fat content, making for a more tender texture.
3. The fish are farmed at 20 to 30 percent less density, meaning there’s more room to move, better muscle development, and, ultimately, better flavor.
4. A century of good work by the folks at Foley’s, who say, “We have been working with this product and farm for decades; they know our quality standards. … We expect the best, and if any of the fish is below our quality checks, we simply send it back.”
Because it’s been on the menu for so long, I have, I confess, taken the Bay of Fundy salmon a bit for granted, but I tasted some the other day and was reminded of just how darned good it is. One piece had the Roadhouse’s Blackening Spice on it, and the other was made with our compellingly aromatic Spicy Coffee Spice Rub! Both were outstanding—the contrast of the spices with the delicate richness of the fish made for a beautiful combo. Better still, order it with a thick disc of Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter on top!
Swing by the Roadhouse soon and order some of the Bay of Fundy salmon. It’s great for lunch or dinner—and whether added to a green salad, a Caesar, or our terrific Smothered Grits, it’ll likely brighten your day in a big way. I know it did mine!