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Salmon Loaf
2 eggs (well beaten) ¼ teaspoon pepper ¾ teaspoon salt 1 cup (small) milk 6 biscuits (rolled fine) 1 can salmon (drained) Flavour with sage or other flavouring.
Beat well, put in pan and steam 1 hour.
A steamed fish loaf of the kind that filled out Friday suppers and used up the pantry's canned salmon. The method is the pudding method, which is why it sits in this section: a greased mould, a covered pot and gentle heat.
- The hinge: steam, do not boilSet the filled mould on a rack in a pot with two inches of simmering water, cover, and keep the water at a bare simmer for the hour. Water at a rolling boil drives the egg custard too hard and the loaf turns dense and weepy.
- "6 biscuits" means crackersIn Canadian usage of this period a biscuit in a savoury recipe like this is generally a hard soda cracker or water biscuit rather than a scone or a sweet cookie. Six rolled fine gives perhaps half a cup or so of fine crumbs, depending on the size of cracker; measure by volume rather than counting, since sizes vary.
- The can of salmonA standard can of this period held about a pound. Today's tall can is 14.75 oz, which is close enough; two 6-oz cans also work. Traditional canned salmon includes soft vertebrae and skin, both of which mash in unnoticed.
- SaltCanned salmon is packed with salt already. The ¾ teaspoon here assumes a bland pack; taste the mixture before adding the full amount, especially with modern brands.
- "1 cup (small)"Probably a small cup or teacup of the kind used loosely in kitchen measure, nearer 6 to 7 fl oz than a level 8, though the book does not say. Start with ¾ cup of milk; the mixture should hold its shape on a spoon, not pour.
- SageAbout ¼ teaspoon dried rubbed sage is enough for this quantity, and it is assertive with fish. Dill, parsley, lemon zest or a spoonful of grated onion all suit the loaf better to a modern palate.
- Mould and donenessA greased 1-quart pudding basin, coffee tin or small loaf pan, covered with greased paper or foil so condensation cannot drip in. It is set when a knife comes out clean and the centre reads 160F.
- If you would rather bake itThe same mixture bakes in a loaf pan at 350F for about 45 to 50 minutes, standing in a shallow water bath. Steaming gives the softer, moister texture the original intends.
- YieldFour servings as a main dish with potatoes, six sliced cold. Cold slices with a caper or egg sauce are a traditional second appearance.
The Five Roses Cook Book was issued by the Lake of the Woods Milling Company to promote its flour, and its recipes were contributed by Canadian households rather than by chefs. That origin shows here: canned British Columbia salmon had become one of the cheapest reliable proteins in the country by the 1910s, shipped east by rail in quantity, and a can of it stretched with crackers, milk and eggs would feed a family cheaply. Steaming rather than baking suited a kitchen with a wood range, where a pot on the back of the stove needed little attention. Loaves of this type — fish, meat or vegetable bound with crumbs and egg — run through North American cookery from the late nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth, and the salmon version proved among the longest-lived.