Salmon smoking is an ancient Nordic practice that allowed Vikings to preserve and flavor their food. Learn more about its history, and meet the craftsman who is keeping the tradition alive today.

BY TAYLOR HUGO PHOTO BY ALUN CALLENDER ALUN BY PHOTO

22 VIKING JULY 2018 sonsofnorway.com sonsofnorway.com VIKING JULY 2018 23 le-Martin Hansen’s WHERE TO BUY days begin at 4 a.m., when he rises to meet the salmon that have been transported first by ferry, then by truck, to England from the Faroe Islands, a tiny slip of WHAT’S land between Norway and Iceland. IT LIKE TO BE A SALMON Time is limited. The fish have been out

SMOKER? OKSANAKIIAN BY PHOTO of water for less than 16 hours, and Check out a short film on since Hansen insists that they never Ole-Martin Hansen, owner HANSEN & LYDERSEN arrive frozen or vacuum packed, he has of Hansen & Lydersen, at If you’re in London and lucky under 48 hours to apply his craft to nowness.com/story/ enough to have an opportunity salmon-smoker. maintain the sweet seafood’s freshness. to try Hansen & Lydersen’s Hansen is a salmon smoker. Born in smoked salmon, don’t pass it up. Norway, he came to London to study The shop currently offers limited sound art at Central Saint Martins. productions of its delicacy While struggling to make it as an artist, around holidays like Christmas Hansen was looking for another stream and Easter. You need to secure an of revenue. “I wanted to do something invite code from the shop, and self-sustainable that would help me shipping and delivery options are fund future projects, but that still not always available. had tradition,” he tells London’s Port hansen-lydersen.com Magazine. Using his great-grandfather’s smoked salmon recipe from 1923, Hansen revived the family business HOUSE OF SVERRE that had been dormant since the 1980s, Run by Swedish-Norwegian opening Hansen & Lydersen in London fashion designer Gunnar

in 2009. CALLENDER ALUN BY PHOTO PHOTO STOCK ALAMY GILBERT/ JEFF BY PHOTOS Lieungh, this luxury smokehouse Although Hansen has practiced in London takes its name from his craft for nearly a decade, the a founding father of Norway’s Scandinavian tradition of salmon enhanced the food’s taste and increased recalling his first memory of eating Guérande from northwest France, the from his brother’s farm in Norway, a salt-fish heritage: King Sverre, of smoking long predates him. its longevity. thick strips of smoked salmon laid same region Vikings used to acquire the sweet, aromatic smoke is produced and whom Lieungh is a descendant. Going back to the Viking era, Nordic Today, smoking is no longer needed across his mother’s freshly baked bread. crucial seasoning to cure their cod. carried through a series of pipes to the Hand-sliced in thick vertical warriors relied on smoking to preserve to preserve food; rather the technique “You sit and you watch the midnight Once the fillets have had a chance to chamber. This air flow sends the salmon strips, the smoked salmon is meat and fish for periods when fresh is used purely to infuse the apricot- sun, and you put this piece of bread in soak in the salt for 12 hours, they’re gently swaying in smoke for another 12 available in three different cuts food would not be available to them. hued fish with a smoky flavor. And your mouth and it just melts.” rinsed and brought to the smoking hours, a crucial step in the process for with varying flavor profiles, and According to Savolax Royal Smoked, while some technological advances Since opening the doors to Hansen & chamber, which Hansen built himself, Hansen, whose grandfather believed the can be shipped internationally. a smokery in Sweden, excavations of have improved the process—by way Lydersen, Hansen has tried to recreate inspired by his family’s original design. movement gave the fish energy and life. www.houseofsverre.com Viking settlements in Norway have of using an iPad to control the pipe’s that food experience for his patrons, “I never saw my grandfather’s smoking The chamber, constructed from revealed “smoking plants,” complete temperature leading to the smoking using a recipe and process that honor chamber, and my mother only vaguely reclaimed pine, is a work of art. A RUSS & DAUGHTERS with furnaces and smoking chambers chamber, in Hansen’s case—the simple his Norwegian heritage. remembers it, so I’ll always wonder large glass window gives you an up- Offering up a variety of cold- connected by underground channels. system for smoking salmon has largely From his production workshop in if I got it right,” he tells Wallpaper close look at the salmon, arranged and hot-smoked specialties— Traveling through the earth, the smoke remained the same over the centuries. Gloucester, roughly two hours west magazine. for maximum visual impact, while a including gravlax, Gaspé Nova from the wood-burning furnace would “I must have been 3 or 4 years old,” of London by train, Hansen begins by Just as his ancestors did, Hansen mosaic mural crafted by a friend of and Norwegian salmon— remain cold and clean before filling the Hansen tells chef Michel Roux Jr. while filleting the fish, then coating it in salt— generates a fire in a small wood-burning Hansen features a colorful mountain this 104-year-old New York chamber, which was full of perishable filming an episode for the YouTube but regular table salt won’t do. Instead, furnace. Using his family’s recipe of and cabin scene. “If you’re going to pay institution ships nationwide. meat. This “cold-smoked” method both series “The Craftsmen’s Dinner,” the fishmonger uses Fleur de Sel de beech wood from Denmark and juniper respect to the salmon, then you have to russanddaughters.com

24 VIKING JULY 2018 sonsofnorway.com sonsofnorway.com VIKING JULY 2018 25 pay attention to it,” Hansen tells chef Roux. “It’s a cathedral.” While his process is rooted in tradition, Hansen has added one step that might just be the biggest secret to his success—and also the most unexpected: a piano. Drawing from his musical background, Hansen serenades the salmon with tunes that change from day-to-day based on his mood. “[It’s] “I wanted to recreate a smoked salmon recipe my grandfather made. I tasted his salmon as a child. It’s a memory that I’ll never forget.” —Ole-Martin Hansen stimulation of the senses,” he tells Roux. “I argue that the sound waves penetrate the flesh of the fish, and it goes in and explodes and […] enriches. It’s really a moment where the kiln is KNOW YOUR TERMS loaded, the salmon is resting and I am resting. We give each other a break.” COLD-SMOKED The result is a product that has gained After being wet- or dry-brined in salt, this salmon is smoked for 10 to 15 hours at a temperature of 80°F or less. Cold-smoked salmon notoriety around the globe. Once a can have more specific names, depending on the region it’s from, best-kept secret in London, local chefs such as Nova (Nova Scotia), Norwegian or Irish. in high-end restaurants have called on Hansen & Lydersen to supply smoked HOT-SMOKED salmon for their menus. A sheik from Also known as “kippered,” this moist, flaky salmon is first wet- Kuwait sent his private jet to purchase brined, and then smoked for one to three hours at a temperature the fish from Hansen, and Prince of 130°F to 140°F. The result is a piece of fish that tastes more Charles has even enjoyed a slice or cooked. two. It’s an honor Hansen doesn’t take lightly, and despite his success, salmon LOX remains his only product. “A proper Referring to the fatty belly of the salmon, lox is cured in salt, but artisan is someone who just does one not smoked. It’s often enjoyed on a bagel with cream cheese. thing,” he tells British arts journalism website The Arts Desk, “and being GRAVLAX allowed to learn something like that is This Nordic specialty involves curing—but not smoking—raw a big honor for someone I think, and salmon in a mixture of spices, like salt, sugar and dill. It is usually involves trust.” served thinly sliced.

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