When I was a young, one of the things that frequently had was pickled salmon. Sadly, it was also a recipe that I never bothered to learn, and which my sister and I had thought was lost to time in forgetfulness when she found this recipe hand written in one of her inherited canning books.

Transcribed here:

Pack filleted salmon in plain salt, and wait about 2 weeks, salmon should be stiff. Peel the skin from salmon bottom to top. Slice in 1/4 inch strips. Rinse off excess salt @ 30 minutes. 4 big bay leaf, sliced onion @ 8 allspace, fish layered till jar is full except bay leaf, end w/onion layer. Cover w/ cider vingegar with 1 tbsp sugar per quart. Let it sit fridge as long as you can stand (about 1 day at least).

Some recollections/clarifications of my own. Obviously the initial 2 week salting should be done in the fridge. I was somewhat surprised to find the brine is really just cider vinegar with bay leaf and allspice, I always figured it was more complex. It doesn’t say how much fish to start with, or how much you can expect to use per quart. My recollection is that the amount of onions and salmon are roughly equal. My recollections is to use white onions, although I suspect that yellow sweet onions would also be fine, sliced lengthwise into strips. The way that we used to eat this was basically in a simple sandwich, where you took a single slice of white sandwich bread, then fish out some slices of onion and salmon, fold the bread like a taco and munch.

It’s probably not for everyone, but it will forever remind me of mom and grandma.