Most people are unaware that smoked salmon emerged from the East End of London around the turn of the last century, when Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, wistful for the taste of home, started preserving fish in the traditional methods of Poland and Ukraine. When they realised they could buy salmon from Scotland cheaper and fresher than the Baltic, a tradition was born: Scotch salmon cured in London.
Initially for enclaves of Eastern Europeans in Stepney Green and the environs, smoked salmon became a prized delicacy, served only at celebrations and special occasions, and not widely available for sale. Until the …read more
Source: The Spectator
