Food Trivia & Food Facts Section

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NOVA LOX

(Nova Scotia Salmon, Nova Salmon, Nova Style Salmon)

This is not really lox, it is brine cured, cold smoked salmon and is less salty than lox. Some smoke houses also use sugar in the curing. Oh, and it is usually not from Nova Scotia, although it was originally, it is has now become almost a generic term because very few salmon are caught in Nova Scotia today.

Originally, lox in a Jewish deli was salt cured salmon. It goes back to the days before refrigeration, when salmon from the Northwest would be shipped in barrels filled with salt brine. The deli would soak the salmon in water to remove some of the salt and then slice it for sale.

Today, Lox is brine cured and lightly cold smoked, and saltier than Nova Scotia Salmon.

There are no legal definitions for Lox or Nova Lox. So what a smokehouse calls ‘lox’ or ‘real lox’ is simply what they choose to call their brine cured, cold smoked salmon. It may use sugar in the curing or not