Smoked salmon is made by hand in London's last remaining East End smokehouse

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Smoked salmon is made by hand in London's last remaining East End smokehouse
  • London Cure Smoked Salmon is a very traditional salmon smoking method that originated in the 19th century.
  • H. Forman & Son has been smoking fish since 1905.
  • The salmon is salted and then very lightly smoked, giving a delicate flavour.
  • 3 tonnes of salmon arrive each day from Scotland within 48 hours of being caught.

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Smoked salmon has been a delicacy for years, but it might surprise you that according to one of the UKs most traditional smokehouses you shouldn't be able to taste the smoke at all.

H. Forman & Son has been producing smoked salmon since 1905, and specialises in London Cure Smoked Salmon. London cure is a technique that has recently been awarded the EUs Protected Designation of Origin status, it relies on traditional methods to produce an incredibly lightly smoked fish.

The idea of smoking salmon was originally brought to London by Jewish immigrants in the 19th century and London's East End became home to a large salmon smoking industry. While there were many smokeries across the area 20 years ago, H. Forman & Son is now the last remaining one.

The salmon are imported each day from Scotland and are immediately cleaned and prepared. Once cut into sides each piece is covered in salt and left for 24 hours. The salt draws out any moisture, which helps to preserve the fish. The salmon are then hung for a further 24 hours before being moved to the kiln.

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Oak blocks are burnt using friction which releases smoke into the kiln. This process preserves the fish and then it's ready for packaging.

Produced by Charlie Floyd

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