lox, for god's sake!

I am looking for NYC-grade lox in San Francisco. Fast. Is this quest hopeless?

[Sushi Monster]

Er, wait a second ... This kerfluffle was all set off by one person responding to a FIVE-YEAR-OLD post?

Feh.

Give me a pound of Trader Joe's smoked Alaskan sockeye any day. The true, bold taste of the Pacific Rim. One bite and it'll make you want to throw rocks at that weak, pale stuff from the east. On New Year's Eve we'll be having it with blintzes, some ikura and kazunoko (that's caviar in Japanese, pilgrim) ... and a bottle of Gloria Ferrer brut.

My best wishes to all hounds for a happy and healthy 2011.

Sushi Monster

[vincentlo]

How does Trader Joe's smoked Alaskan sockeye compare to Costco's version?

[wolfe]

They both work for me but TJ's is more manageable at 4oz, an amount I can eat, vs 16oz+(party size). Costco may have 2 brands, you want the sockeye not the Atlantic farmed..

[tstrum]

OK, I totally understand what you are looking for, because I looked as well. I found Nova Lox at Molly Stone's Grocery Store in Greenbrae, Bon Air Shopping Center. It is also at Woodlands Market in Kentfield. Both in Marin.

-----
Woodlands Market
735 College Ave, Kentfield, CA 94904

[spryspry]

Hi there lox fans! It's not Zebars but Swan's Oyster Bar at 1517 Polk in S.F. has pretty good lox...

[chefj]

I guess you mean Zabar's. Who by the way sells nova lox mail order I believe, but not plain old lox.

I think the person who gets their's at the Ferry Building Farmer's market might be talking about Capt'n Mike's Holy Smoke lox. Capt'n Mike and his wife are there every Saturday. They also have people who sell their stuff at the farmer's markets in Danville, Walnut Creek and Pleasanton. Capt'n Mikes smoked fish is the best ever!! That said, it is not cheap - but in this case you surely get what you pay for.

i prefer nova lox, and i often get it at izzy's bagels in palo alto.

Have you tried

Tel-Aviv Kosher Meats
2495 Irving Street
[phone]

Give them a call.

I've never seen real lox in the Bay Area. Even in New York when you ask for lox most places give you nova.

maybe im totally confused about why its not "lox" but from what i understand, the lox i get from the farmers market at the ferry building on saturday is damn good stuff.

Nova has a lighter cure than lox. I used to ask for belly cuts to get the saltier taste I was looking for from nova.

The belly cuts have most of the oil...and flavor. One of my best friends (now in his nineties) worked in Alaska as a kid in the salmon fisheries, and said the Chinese kids would steal all the bellies. It would be a crime to toss them in the can.

This description from foodreference.com might help:

NOVA LOX
(Nova Scotia Salmon, Nova Salmon, Nova Style Salmon)

This is not really lox, it is brine cured, cold smoked salmon and is less salty than lox. Some smoke houses also use sugar in the curing. Oh, and it is usually not from Nova Scotia, although it was originally, it is has now become almost a generic term because very few salmon are caught in Nova Scotia today.

Originally, lox in a Jewish deli was salt cured salmon. It goes back to the days before refrigeration, when salmon from the Northwest would be shipped in barrels filled with salt brine. The deli would soak the salmon in water to remove some of the salt and then slice it for sale.

Today, Lox is brine cured and lightly cold smoked, and saltier than Nova Scotia Salmon.

There are no legal definitions for Lox or Nova Lox. So what a smokehouse calls ‘lox’ or ‘real lox’ is simply what they choose to call their brine cured, cold smoked salmon. It may use sugar in the curing or not