If I was asked to name my favourite fish I will undoubtedly spell Salmon as my favourite to cook and relish. Salmon, as we all know, is the fish which distinguishes itself apart from the rest of the fish varieties and is most easily to distinguish because of its light pink colour.
Salmon easily secures a space in every chef’s heart and can be spotted in almost every fine dining restaurant’s menu with chef vouching for their own signature recipes for them and how fresh is their fish.
Salmon is the generic name given to the fish in the specie salmoniformes. They live in the Northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. One significant fact of salmon fish is the way they are born somewhere else and then live somewhere else and return back to their place of birth for breeding.
To elaborate, salmons are born in fresh water and then migrate to sea as they grow and then return back to their place of birth to reproduce or spawn. Scientists have found out that salmon may travel distances of thousands of miles to spawn. You will be surprised to know that they do not eat while they are migrating or moving up the stream and they gain energies stored in their body fat while they travel.
Till the time salmon is in fresh water they do not change their colour, as they migrate to the sea they change their colour and distinguish themselves from others.
Ever wondered what makes the salmon pink? Well as they migrate to the sea and feed more on the krill and shrimp their flesh changes from white to pink/ orange. These crustaceans are filled with compounds called carotenoids which are orange in colour. These are the compounds which give the colour to the carrots as suggested in their name.  
The more they feed on them the deeper will be the colour. That’s the reason why the wild caught salmon is deep pink/ orange than the farm raised fish. The farm raised fish is even given colours in their diet to turn them pink. We have a misconception that the deeper is the pink colour the better is the salmon variety, well that is true in one context that the fish is wild caught and not farm raised.
You will also experience that the deep hued fish is sold at a marginally higher rate as compared to the light coloured ones. My advice is not to judge a salmon by its colour but by its freshness and also look for the wild caught varieties. Well now the question is how to distinguish the wild caught or farm raise.
Firstly check the label or ask the seller/ retailer for the origin. Then check if it is Atlantic or Pacific salmon. If it is Atlantic then probably it is farm raised as opposed the Pacific which is generally wild caught. That’s also one of the reasons why the Atlantic salmon is lighter than the pacific one.
Talking about the health aspect of salmon — the carotenoid in salmon is a particularly potent antioxidant known as astaxanthin, which has been shown to protect against cardiovascular disease, cancer, inflammation, eye diseases, general ageing and many other conditions. Salmon is a good source of omega 3 fatty acid which is good for brain development.

Thyme Scented
Salmon Steak

Serves    2
Ingredients
Salmon fillet 500 gm
Olive oil 4 tbsp
Sea salt to taste
Thyme fresh few sprigs
Crushed black pepper to taste
Asparagus spears 6-8 no
Cherry tomato 8-10 no
Olives10-12 no
Lemon 1 no
Cucumber1 no
Cheese cracker 6-8 pcs
Fresh micro herbsto garnish
For citrus butter
Lemon juice 3 tbsp
Butter 3 tbsp
Parsley, chop 1 tbsp

Method
Cut the salmon fillet in the required size and marinate with some olive oil, seas salt and crushed pepper and fresh thyme sprigs and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Wash, peel and cut the asparagus and blanch them and keep aside.
Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom pan and place the skin side first and cook.
Marinate the blanched asparagus with olive oil and salt and place them also along the salmon in the pan.
Turn the steak to cook evenly from both sides.
Prepare a citrus butter by heating clarified butter and lemon juice and chopped parsley, keep aside.
Once the steak is cooked and the vegetables have nice grilled marks serve on a plate.
Drizzle the remaining citrus butter sauce on top and garnish with asparagus, spears, cherry tomato, olives, lemon slices and cucumber curls.