Our very first restaurant review last year was by the globe gobbling ‘Dos Hermanos’, a highly respected food blog.
We were delighted to find ourselves on their ‘Top Tastes’ of 2009.
http://www.doshermanos.co.uk/search?q=best+of+2009
There’s Mr Forman, number 14 in the photos by our count.
The 2010 Michelin restaurant guide is hot off the press and has awarded 140Â British restaurants one or more stars, the highest ever total. Call us vain but we counted up the restaurants we supply on the list and our tally comes to 42 stars held by restaurant customers of ours.
If you’re serving Forman & Field smoked salmon you’re certainly in good company!
Click here to read the list in full: UK Michelin Star Restaurants 2010
Writing in the Telegraph Weekend magazine last Saturday, Casilda Grigg chose one of our gift packs of London Cure Smoked Scottish Salmon as her choice gift for food lovers.
“Served with scrambled eggs on Christmas morning, this would make a lovely start to the day: a 900g side of hand-sliced “London cure” smoked salmon from an East End firm renowned for the quality of its salmon.”
Click here to read the article in full.
We’ll take orders for smoked salmon at least up to December the 12th but please call with any last minute requests after that date and we’ll almost certainly be able to arrange something for you.
The Forman family have been smoking salmon since 1905 so they’ve learnt a thing or two along the way. Stick to Lance Forman’s 10 golden rules and you’ll never be disappointed by smoked salmon again.
2. Cheap, fatty smoked salmon may need lemon but Forman’s doesn’t - especially not the wild.
3. If you see sugar on the ingredients label it’s a bad sign. It’s only there to cover up too much salt or old fish, don’t buy it.
4. Eat smoked salmon as freshly as possible; it won’t taste as good at the end of the shelf-life.
5. Only Wild Scottish salmon has the great reputation. English is considered inferior and Irish is no longer available. Wild Norwegian and Baltic is good, Wild Alaskan salmon is a totally different breed.
6. Organic salmon is not wild and no more natural than regular farmed, so should not be more expensive. Don’t be fooled.
7. Try ordering and carving smoked salmon yourself – it will taste even better.
8. Gravadlax is not and should not be smoked.
9. Don’t buy salmon whose packs state it is “matured” – fish does not mature, it goes off!
10. The key to smoked salmon and any fish is the freshness. Forman’s smoked salmon is carved for you the day before you receive it.
If you have any suggestions of your own or questions that you’d like Lance to answer on smoked salmon please do leave a comment below.
The BBC visited our smokehouse recently to film part of last night’s episode of Rivers, a series presented by Griff Rhys Jones about Britain’s key waterways. Last night’s star was the River Lea on which sits our very own smokehouse. East London was formerly the home of London’s shall we say less perfumed industry with tanners and smokehouses that numbered at least 15, we are the last surviving. It’s a fascinating program that uses the stories of the river to give a local perspective on the past.
If you want to skip through to our section where Lance teaches Griff to produce and carve a side of smoked salmon it’s at around 47 minutes, available for 7 days only!
Did you watch it any enjoy it? We’d love to hear your comments about the Olympics in East London and the use of our local area. It’s certainly going to be a change from when it was used for tanners and smokers, a change for the better?
The Luxury Channel recently visited us on Fish Island as part of a program discovering London’s high quality craftsmen. It’s a fascinating watch and wonderful to see the traditional skills still being practised in the capital, from cricket bat and gun making through to the late Danny La Roux’s wigmaker and our own smokehouse.
To view the program click here, you’ll find us roughly three quarters of the way through.
Lance Forman discusses the history of salmon smoking including some great footage of life in the East End. The presenter then takes the “smoked salmon challenge” taste testing London Cure farmed against Genuine Wild smoked Scottish salmon. “The finest smoked salmon I have ever tasted,” he decided.
Lance had the pleasure of talking to Robert Elms live on BBC Radio London as part of his ‘Made in London’ feature this week. They discussed the history of Formans and salmon smoking in the East End, as well as our relocation to our new home on Fish Island.
Until the 22nd of June you can hear the interview in full via the BBC iPlayer, click on the link below and scroll through the programe to around 2 hours 7 minutes to listen.
We had the pleasure of hosting a recent Wine Guild of the United Kingdom event, here are some pictures from the day. If you would like to recreate the menu, just click on the the links underneath the images.
Citrus Salmon Canapes awaiting the first guests
Click here to order Citrus Salmon Canapes
Starter of Lond Cure smoked salmon with buckwheat blinis and traditional accompaniments
Click here to order Smoked Salmon with Buckwheat Blinis
The view from tables across to the new 2012 Olympics stadium
Wine Guild members enjoying their lunch
Main course of Halibut with artichokes, served on herb mash
Click here to order Halibut with Artichokes & Citrus
And finally... Steamed sponge puddings with Tate & Lyle golden syrup, served in golden syrup tins
Click here to order Steamed Sponge Puddings with Golden Syrup
We get asked to attend lots of shows and events. Rarely, however, are we invited by such luminaries of the fine food and drink community as the wine merchant Berry Brothers & Rudd. With 311 years under their belt they’ve been in business even longer than Forman’s.
We joined the Berry’s team and their customers to taste their wines alongside our trademark London Cured Smoked Salmon, served on buckwheat blinis with creme fraiche, capers and shallots. It’s our favourite way of serving smoked salmon for a party, we top the blinis for customers and let them add their own toppings. I’d certainly reccomend it to anyone entertaining over the Easter period, our kit makes it it a synch to prepare at home.
Smoked Salmon and Blini Kit and Kerboodle
This event got us thinking that there’s a lot food producers can learn from the wine industry. For years vineyards have opened their doors to customers, inviting them in to learn about production methods, to taste and to buy over the gate. It’s something that we’ve been slow to catch on to. Indeed an industrial food producer usually has every interest in hiding the process that goes into the food they churn out. Farm shops are all very well but often you find produce divorced from the producer there as much as you do in a supermarket.
At Forman’s Fish Island we’ll be doing everything we can to encourage customers to come and visit us. We’re proud of the fresh ingredients and traditional techniques that go into everything we make and we want to show off to our customers. Come and visit the smokehouse, enjoy a meal in our restaurant and close the gap between producer and your plate.
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