Salmon have been abundant in Alaskan waters for thousands of years and remain so today, while American Atlantic waters have been sorely impacted by overfishing. Salmon was so frequently on the menu in early New England that indentured servants insisted on a clause in their contracts limiting salmon to one meal a week. Then in the nineteenth century most commercial salmon came from the Atlantic. It was canned in New England and shipped to California beginning in 1840. By 1864 the process was reversed, with canned salmon produced in California and sent east.

Today all Atlantic salmon come from Canada or Europe, while the waters of Alaska still teem with fish. This is due to modern methods of managing the seasonal fisheries in Alaska. Of the one billion pounds of salmon produced commercially worldwide, about 70% comes from farms, but not so in Alaska. All Alaskan salmon are wild, living free in the waters of the Pacific Ocean before returning to the rivers where they were born.

Alaskans highly praise the value of the Salmons orange-red flesh and thought that any form of disrespect shown to these fish would cause Sea Gods to take the salmon away.

Without the salmon not only the people and animals would suffer, but the land as well. When salmon return from the sea they bring back nitrogen so that the trees and plants thrive, benefitting the herbivores also. The best way to honor this salmon gift from the gods is to take only what is needed and use all that is taken. So it was vital to develop a way to store the salmon caught during their breeding runs back up their natal rivers. That is where Alaskan Smoked Salmon comes in.

The high fat content makes salmon an ideal food to preserve and flavor with smoke. Native Alaskans have been doing just that for centuries. The natural oils of the fish welcome the smoke flavor and retain it in a splendid way. But creating the best mouth-watering Alaskan Smoked Salmon isn't as simple as placing the salmon in the smokehouse.

Cures are categorized in two fields, wet and dry. Wet cures require the meat to be soaked in a brine solution which can contain pepper, sugar, salt, and other spices. The dry variety of curing is typically to produce cured only fish and contains a mix of herbs or fruit, seat salt, and sugar.

The actual smoking process varies as well. Hot-smoking produces a stronger smoke flavor and a drier fish. Cold-smoking will result in a gentler smoke flavor and a softer or oilier texture. The species of salmon will also affect the flavor. There are five different species of salmon in Alaskan waters, each with a different taste.

Today, people can find salmon on their local grocery store shelves, but this variety is typically farm raised and cold smoked. For any connoisseur, however, Alaskan Smoked Salmon is the best bet. The taste of Alaskan Salmon is comparable to fine wine when its properly smoked and cured correctly.