Christmas salmon: Stage 1

Hold onto your hats as you're in for a ride.

This is Stage 1 of my Christmas Day cold smoked salmon.

I have cured it (weirdly though it still seems to be dead) in salt, sugar and sumac.

Now it is in the fridge forming a pellicle for the next 24 hours or so.

Tomorrow, if you can stand the wait, will see me putting it into the cold smoker for 12 hours.

It doesn't get better than this.