There’s no pin pointing exactly when Jews first began consuming cured fish. So we Orcans did a little research and found some hard and soft facts. Hard fact, fish is considered kosher pareve, meaning it was prepared without meat, milk, or their derivatives. This makes fish permissible to be eaten with either meat or dairy dishes, according to traditional Jewish dietary laws. Lox is particularly favorable, as smoked and salted fish is not cooked and therefore has fewer limitations. Rabbis have even given lox the green light when prepared by gentiles, or non-Jews. In the late 19th century in Eastern Europe herring was the fish of choice. However, as generations passed and folks immigrated to America salmon began to make guest appearances. Salmon was less expensive than the traditional herring, and gained popularity in the early 1900s throughout the Northeast United States. Lachs the German/Yiddish word for the heavily salted salmon, is now commonly referred to as “lox”. Gil Marks, A Jewish culinary historian, has explained that the very “unkosher” American brunch favorite of Eggs benedicts has a very kosher alternative which is substituting the lox slices for the ham, cream cheese for the hollandaise, and bagels for the English muffins. This became the new Jewish-American classic circa 1930s and is popular today amongst the masses of breakfast goers and brunchers.
Orcan, Denali Johnson, and her East Coast transplant Oregonian family are huge fans of Orca Bay’s Nova Lox. She may or may not have ordered 18 pounds in the last year of employment and that pretty much makes her a Lox Expert. Here’s how Denali & The Johnsons get down on lox. (It’s really simple!)
Bagels, PREFERRABLY from New York
Red onions, thinly sliced
Slice bagel, toast if desired. Slather in cream cheese. Layer lox > tomato > onion > cucumbers > capers. Voila! Perfection.