It reigns supreme on all festive tables.
Smoked salmon, this product that can be tasted in a thousand ways.
As the leading consumer country in Europe, France has a multitude of references on the shelves of its supermarkets.
Red or organic label?
Pacific or Atlantic salmon?
To find one's way among so many choices, the magazine
60 million consumers
(1) meticulously compared twenty references.
To do this, 63 men and women from all socio-professional categories took part in a blind tasting carried out in a sensory cabin.
Here is the best smoked salmon to slip into your basket according to them.
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Red label salmon at the top of the podium
Organic salmon, red label, first prizes… There is no shortage of choice in France.
If the different offers allow this noble product to be accessible, the sensory quality of smoked salmon is often discarded.
This is why the survey conducted by our colleagues from the media of the National Institute of Consumption focuses on the quality of color, texture, but also smoking.
At the end of the tasting, one conclusion stands out: the label rouge references rise to the top of the podium, with a score greater than or equal to 16/20.
Top of the leaderboard?
The smoked salmon raised in Scotland from U Saveurs, which obtained a score of 18/20, sold at the price of €4.20 for 80 g, i.e. two slices.
Scottish-raised smoked salmon from U Saveurs wins first place.
U-system
The Difference Between Atlantic and Pacific Salmon
The magazine 60 million consumers sheds light on the difference between these two salmon: "Under the name salmon there are actually two categories: Atlantic salmon, which is farmed salmon, and Pacific salmon caught in wild state".
Read alsoHow to cook salmon?
Uneven organic salmon
If the sensory quality of red label salmon is praised, organic salmon experience more inequalities.
Benefiting from a greater space and good quality water, fish from organic farming do not guarantee a good quality product, judged "too fatty" or "too pale" by the testers.
Be that as it may, it is still an organic Atlantic salmon from the Bio Village brand that takes second place.
With a score of 18/20, the two slices, i.e. 65 g, are sold at a price of €3.33.
An expensive price.
Indeed, our colleagues confirm that for a good salmon, “it is preferable to choose more expensive products which guarantee a certain quality”.
Smoked Atlantic salmon from Bio Village.
Organic Village
11 salmon recipes for the New Year
In images, in pictures
See the slideshow11 photos
See the slideshow11 photos
The trick to tasting smoked salmon
Interviewed by the magazine 60 million consumers, Patrice Garoff, manager of Le Fumoir, an artisanal smoking company near Nantes, explains the ideal way to taste his smoked salmon: "Take your smoked fish out of the fridge and open it twenty minutes before tasting.
It will reveal its aromas”.
Smoked trout, the cheaper alternative
The survey also covers smoked trout, an often less expensive alternative to smoked salmon.
Top of the leaderboard?
It is U Saveurs which once again takes the highest place on the podium, with its smoked trout raised in Aquitaine sold for €5.15 for 4 slices, i.e. 140 g.
Obtaining a score of 15.5/20, it is appreciated for its “good balance of taste, texture and color”.
The ideal choice for local enthusiasts.
The smoked trout raised in Aquitaine from U Saveurs obtains a score of 15.5/20.
U-system
(1) The full survey can be found in the magazine
60 million consumers
, currently on newsstands.
