I think I should have said, "I'm gonna bet it's gonna be a religious experience."

The fish I cooked up tonight was, if anything, a true religious experience. OH MY GOD. And I don't really care for fish.

The wife invited 8 friends over for a BBQ tonight. 12 of us total. Everyone brought salads, deserts, etc, but the highlight was the fish.

The springer was filleted out (collar to tip of the tail) on Thursday evening. I cut each fillet in 3rds. Put under saran wrap in the fridge to "age" from Thursday night until tonight.

The fish was never washed, and only the pin bones were removed. As the guests arrived, I put on two massive slabs on the BBQ - one piece "A-nate-ur-al" and the other with my infamous "condiment" sauce.

The "a-nate-ur-al" piece was just lightly coated in a dab of EVO (Extra Virgin Oil) and seasoned (salt and pepperP.

The sauce for the other piece was:

1 stick of butter
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 Ketchup
2 TBSP Yellow Mustard
1 Dash of Worchestire Sauce

Melt the butter over low heat. Once melted, add in the other ingredients and cook for about 5 minutes. Place fish on a HOT BBQ meat side down. Cook for about 5 minutes. Flip over on to it's skin and heavily baste with the sauce. Cook until done.

So, I placed both pieces of fish on the BBQ, meat side down, for 5 minutes, flipped them both over, and coated ONE piece with the sauce, and left the "a-nate-ural" as is.

As they were cooking, I made a PROMISE to Doc that I'd cook and eat the collars and belly strips. I did. I pulled off the belly strip(s) and the collars and served those up first as a "appetizer".

Apparently, that only added fuel to the feeding frenzy fire, as all I heard was "OH MY LORD, THIS IS THE BEST FISH IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!" The ONLY time I'd ever eaten a collar was last summer when Doc cooked up some Kenai collars he scammed off of some guys down at the cleaning table. Those were damn good. These collars, were a million times better. Wholly crap. Doc's on to something here. I have truly seen the light on a fresh and oily king collar! Nectar of the gods, if you were to ask me now. I also don't care for the salmon bellies, but these just flat out melted in your mouth. I took them off early, so they would not be overcooked. Truly amazing.

Fat was dripping everywhere. My BBQ was ON FIRE! It was awesome.

A few minutes later, both the big slabs of springer were finished. And by finished, I mean I took them off the BBQ with the middles still almost raw. By the time the fish made it to a plate, they had finished enough that the fish was PERFECT. Oooozing clear liquid fat like I had poured a pint of water on the slabs.

They were both gone in seconds. BUT.......

It was pretty evident by EVERYONE there that the fish with the "sauce" was EPIC. 3 kids (who don't care for fish) wanted more. The rest of the adults were fighting for the scraps.

Round Two. Two more beefy slaps (collars and belly strips included) hit the BBQ. Same as above, except both slabs got the sauce.

Dessert? Screw that. Everyone just ate fish. Ate and ate and ate until it hurt.

Easily one of the Top 10 Salmon Feeds I've ever prepared or have been too. The fish was amazing. Literally just melted in your mouth. Flat out just oooooozed with clear liquid fat. The sauce is truly amazing - I've been touting that for years. I know Bucket has had that sauce and can vouch for it's awesomeness on both fresh *and* frozen fish.

World's Best Tasting Salmon? - I ate it tonight. Columbia River Spring Salmon

Well Parker, you started with a quality product. All you had to do was not screw it up, and your guests were destined to have a "to die for" salmon culinary experience. I shoulda' warned ya', you coulda' nailed every woman of age there tonight. Small detail.

Sg

Parker -
Sounds awesome; I may have to try that sauce this summer!

Thanks to an unsual set of circumstances and a generous friend I was able to make a direct comparison between a Columbia springer (chrome with sea-lice) and a Skagit spring (caught in the salt) when both fish are their absolute fresh peak.

I passed chunks to the fresh Skagit fish to two neighbors and both raved about it being the best salmon they ever had. I didn't have the heart to tell them I kept the better fish for myself (and yes fresh the Columbia fish was clearly superior).

However the story here is that I took the opportunity to smoke generous amounts of both springs - yes I know given the table quality of those springs it is a travesty to smoke them but I want to make the comparison.

Now I think I do a good job with my smoke fish and consider my May/June kokanee to be the gold standard of smoke fish. I shared the results of my littel test with 3 fellow fish snobs. We all agreed that the smoked Skagit spring was very good though it was a notch below the kokanee. They all agreed that the Columbia fish was superior to the gold standard kokanee.

Just once again confirming if you want good smoked fish start with the best fish you can get your hands on. The smoked Columbia fish was so good that if I should ever find myself with an extra fillet it will go into the smoker rather than into the freezer fresh.

Tight lines
Curt

It is NOT a travesty to smoke spring chinook.

Do you want the best smoked fish? Then start with the best fish.

I've heard that comment from people a hundred times. Their tune always changes when they bust off a piece of smoked springer, and see that it is so far superior to smoked anything else.

No seasoning, or marinating of any kind, with salmon or Halibut.

Thin sliced fillets on low temp out on the BBQ. Excellent stuff man.

Why mask the taste?

Word of caution: DO NOT OVER COOK!

Mf