PAUL WEDGWOOD

PAUL WEDGWOOD, Wedgwood the Restaurant, Edinburgh 250g salt

250g Douglas fir needles (washed and dried)

50g caster sugar

10g pink peppercorns

30g dried kelp

In a mortar and pestle or spice mill, finely grind the peppercorns. Then finely chop the fir needles. Place both in a small bowl and add salt, sugar and kelp and mix well.

On a tray large enough to hold the fish, spread out half the curing mixture.

On top of this, place the salmon skin side down.

Spread the remaining mixture on top of the fish, making sure that it is evenly coated.

Tightly wrap and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

When cured, remove salmon from tray and rinse under running water. Pat dry with paper towels.

The needles of the Douglas fir smell very aromatic and citrus-like and have a taste that corresponds to the aroma. These flavours range from extreme lemon to pink grapefruit depending on species. They can be extremely strong so should be used sparingly at first until you get used to using them.

To infuse sugar, add 250g granulated sugar to 100g fir needles washed and dried. With a meat tenderising hammer “bruise” the needles and mix with sugar. Place in a tub and cover. Sieve the needles out of the sugar. The longer you leave it the more it will infuse and the stronger the final flavour. Pine, spruce and fir needles are used for a wide array of things. I like them for adding flavour to salts and sugars for curing. This salt and sugar can also be added to your normal recipes for things such as granita, or chocolate and rosemary mousse. I first used pine needles back when I was a young boy while on adventure and survival weekends with the Cub Scouts when we would simply infuse the needles into boiling water to create a pine tea.

Among all the nutrients it contains, raw needles are greatly prized for their high Vitamin C content. There are stories of sailors who were suffering the effects of scurvy being saved from death by drinking pine needle tea.”