Silky salt-cured salmon draped over a bagel with cream cheese. Eastern European Jewish New Yorkers adapted brined Pacific salmon shipped east by rail, and the appetising stores paired it with the bagel and cream cheese that now seem inseparable from it.
It is raw fish cured in salt and eaten uncooked, which carries a parasite risk unless the salmon is commercially frozen to a specified core temperature first — a step the traditional method predates.
What goes into it
- salmon belly
- salt, in quantity
- sometimes sugar
How it is made
True lox is salt-cured only, with no smoke at all: the salmon belly sits in heavy salt or brine for days, drawing out water and firming the flesh, and is then rinsed and sliced. It is intensely salty, which is why nova — a milder brine plus cold smoke — largely replaced it on the counter.
How long it takes: several days to weeks in salt
How it is eaten
Sliced thin on a bagel with cream cheese, capers, red onion and tomato.
History
Eastern European Jewish New Yorkers adapted brined Pacific salmon shipped east by rail; appetising stores paired it with the bagel and cream cheese.
Frequently asked questions
What is Lox?
Lox is a charcuterie & cured from United States: silky salt-cured salmon draped over a bagel with cream cheese. Eastern European Jewish New Yorkers adapted brined Pacific salmon shipped east by rail; appetising stores paired it with the bagel and cream cheese.
How is Lox made?
True lox is salt-cured only, with no smoke at all: the salmon belly sits in heavy salt or brine for days, drawing out water and firming the flesh, and is then rinsed and sliced. It is intensely salty, which is why nova — a milder brine plus cold smoke — largely replaced it on the counter. It takes several days to weeks in salt.
Can I make Lox at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is raw fish cured in salt and eaten uncooked, which carries a parasite risk unless the salmon is commercially frozen to a specified core temperature first — a step the traditional method predates.
What goes into Lox?
Salmon belly, salt, in quantity, sometimes sugar.
How is Lox eaten?
Sliced thin on a bagel with cream cheese, capers, red onion and tomato.
