Lox is the Jewish bacon

[chanaleh]

Nothing like working a 12-hour day... on a fast day (yesterday). I think it makes up for all the slacking I was doing coming in well after 10am for the past, like, two months while my various shows were going up. I also fear there are a lot more of these in store for me this July, due to a major new work project... and that I'm going to earn every penny of my recent "official" promotion, not to mention my week's vacation in early August. Whew.

Anyway, so before I run off this morning, I bring you a Compare and Contrast:

Mmm...	Lox	Bacon
Salty	Yep	Yep
Smoky	Yep	Yep
Rich (oily)	Yep	Yep
Delicious	Yep	Yep
Protein source	Yep	Yep
Classic breakfast staple	Yep	Yep
Featured in fancy hors d'oeuvres	Yep	Yep
Texture	Silky	Crunchy
Fat content	High in omega-3's	High in saturated fat
Kashrut	Fins and scales	"tameh hu lachem" (unclean for you; Leviticus 11:7)

Conclusion: Lox is the Jewish bacon.

Comments

Now i'm waiting

[drwex]

...for the first lox-flavored ice cream.

Re: Now i'm waiting

[coraline]

that's really not so far from gravlax. which was had at this baitcon.

Re: Now i'm waiting

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Lox flavored ice cream is available at Max & Mina's on Main Street in Flushing, Queens in New York.

Re: Now i'm waiting

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Is lox different from gravlax? I was considering that to be lox flavored ice cream.

NPR mentioned a place in Wasilla, AK making lox flavored vodka. They started using it in bloody marys and then it got way popular.

Re: Now i'm waiting

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that puts me in mind of xiphias's post about savory cocktails using potato-flavored vodka. (Well, not potato-FLAVORED vodka. Vodka retaining its potatoey flavor.)

Re: Now i'm waiting

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Lox and gravlax are different, yes. Lox is smoked; gravlax is pickled.

I tolerate both of them, but like neither particularly -- I don't much like salmon. Lis, by contrast, LOVES them both, and would be hard-pressed to say which she likes better.

Re: Now i'm waiting

[coraline]

there is debate on whether "lox" actually means smoked... wikipedia seems to disagree with you.

mostly, there's no point in arguing, i just say "yum, pass me some."

Re: Now i'm waiting

[coraline]

gravlax is cured in salt, sugar and dill. "lox" is a less specific term, which is sometimes used to refer to smoked salmon, but more properly means cured salmon generally not using dill, or sugar.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

When cooking for Jews, I often use smoked salmon where I would otherwise use bacon. I make a great pasta carbonara with smoked salmon and spinach that's...something I should do again soon, actually!

[gilana]

Now you just need a Jew to cook it for! Can I volunteer? :)

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Heck for that I would consider converting.... :-p

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

Indeed, just what was missing! Let me know when.

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

We non-Jews like salmon too. Count me in. :)

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

Ooo! Recipe, please?

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

Basically just whatever alfredo recipe you fancy and right at the end add in small bits of chopped steamed spinach and smoked salmon. It's both wicked easy and delicious.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Yum! I would probably adapt the alfredo sauce to incorporate some cream cheese, for good measure. ;-)

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

And then I also have to share my story of how you can tell Ireland doesn't have many Jews (only about 40,000, I've subsequently learned).

We were in Denmark with a couple who hail from Cork (him) and Catalonia (her). At the first breakfast buffet, all the food was labelled and I noticed that the word for salmon is "laks". I mentioned to the others that it would be easy to remember and they looked blankly at me and asked "Why?"

[jeffurrynpl.livejournal.com]

When I was visiting my mother for Mother's Day she asked me what I wanted in the house and I said "smoked salmon."

"Do you mean 'lox?'"

"I didn't know you spoke Norwegian!"

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

I take it you've never had salmon jerky? If you ever have the opportunity (I did when we went to Alaska), try it. It takes like bacon made out of fish.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. Salmon jerky.....

Now I crave some. Darn it.

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

Whole Paycheck normally has some.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

I think I've seen it a Trader Joe's too, come to think of it. (TJ's is closer to me now....)

[ursamajor]

Oh god yesss. Delicious stuff; I've only seen it in west coast (farmers') markets, though, at least of a provenance I'd trust. The idea of salmon jerky from farmed Atlantic just makes me wince.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I wonder if flash deep frying would get lox to crunchy?

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

Could you add to the chart "Appearance (striated)" and "Served in strips"?

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Well pointed out!

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

This needs a crosspost to weirdjews! :)

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if there will be any Atlantic salmon left to make into lox though . . . Thank you, BP.

[melopoeia.livejournal.com]

Also: A new tool for working with overfishing and bioaccumulative toxins!

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-03-tool-overfish-mercury/

[halleyscomet.livejournal.com]

You should also note that lox can be made at home in the fridge from fresh salmon, while curing your own bacon is a royal pain in the neck and a LOT more work.

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

IMO the parallel to prosciutto is even closer, since prosciutto is silky too.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Oh my. I really hadn't thought of that, er, conversion. I might have to seek out some of the prosciutto-containing recipes I had formerly blipped over. ;-)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...lox. :)

[dushai.livejournal.com]

"Bacon is to the Jews what lust is to the Catholics. You think of a benevolent God, and you realize that He couldn't have actually meant that." -- HJS, moderately observant Jew, with one big exception.