Amusing conversation at the farmers' market

[redbird]

cattitude and I went to the Bellevue Farmers' Market this morning. One of the vendors sells salmon: fresh, Indian-style smoked, or lox, and they identify the kind of salmon they started with. We were chatting with them in the course of buying some sockeye lox, and cattitude observed that a lot of people around here don't know what lox is.

Woman standing nearby: How can people not know what lox is?
Me: A lot of people think lox just means smoked salmon.
Her: Doesn't it?

I told her that lox is brine-cured, and what she's thinking of is smoked salmon, sometimes called Nova Scotia salmon or novy. Then, looking at her expression, assured her that "smoked salmon" would get her what she wanted. She then said that the Union Square market* is overwhelming, and I agreed that it can be, adding that I like it, but that when we lived in New York I mostly used the smaller Greenmarket in my neighborhood, though I have schlepped apples home on the subway.

*The market in Union Square is the oldest and largest of the New York City Greenmarkets**, which get New Yorkers fresh produce and other good things, and help people keep farming in the NYC area. Wednesday and Saturday are particularly good.

**Greenmarket is a trademark, created because "farmers market" was being used to just mean any greengrocer, and they wanted to identify that these stands were actually run by the farmers—and, later, fishers and bakers. There's really good salmon here in the Seattle area, but I miss the variety of fish, and the fresh blue crabs. (And I still have to work to not say "greenmarket" for the market here in Bellevue, or the one in Harvard Square, which are the same kind of market but not through the same organization.)

Comments

[adrian_turtle]

There are some people who don't know that "lox" refers to fish. It's a different kind of "not know what lox is," and one where people are much more likely to recognize their ignorance rather than thinking they know.

[birke]

I also thought that lox was smoked salmon. Well, now I know. Thanks.

[sammason.livejournal.com]

I didn't know what lox was, but thanks to you I know now. Wonder whether my digestion would accept it.

with hopes that any of this is useful info.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Because it's cured but not cooked, it's about halfway between raw and cooked fish in alimentary terms. I find it makes me feel similarly to how sushi makes me feel, and I find both very digestible. Good luck!

Re: with hopes that any of this is useful info.

[sammason.livejournal.com]

I hope I'll get chance to try it. Thanks for the info.