While lox is not a particularly religiously significant Jewish food, I would argue that it has attained a religious-like status among many Jews. Fish has long been a staple in Jewish diets, and salted fish was widely consumed in Ashkenazic communities in Eastern Europe, but it was the combination of geography, technology and economics that led to lox as we know it today.
In the United States, lox, from the Yiddish lachs (salmon), resulted from the combination of German and Scandinavian curing methods with an abundance of inexpensive salmon from the Pacific Northwest and Nova Scotia and elsewhere on the Eastern seaboard.
In the early 1900s, Jews in America developed their own preserving methods, including curing with salt and sometimes brown sugar and then cold-smoking, which does not cook the fish, resulting in the delicate texture we know and love.
Jews subsequently moved into the fish business, which became centered in Brooklyn, New York. As part of this movement, the Acme Smoked Fish Corporation became the largest U.S. producer of smoked fish and is a fourth-generation family-owned business still operating.
While the practice of combining lox and cream cheese on a bagel seems ubiquitous now, this preparation is relatively new, developing in the 1930s as a kosher response to the popular non-kosher Eggs Benedict, substituting the bagel for the English muffin, cream cheese for hollandaise and lox for ham.
When I was growing up in southern New Jersey, I remember my grandparents and later other family members coming down from New York bringing my family a supply of dozens of “real” bagels, which would be stored in the freezer to be used over subsequent weeks.
On those visits, I also remember enjoying those bagels together with lox for a weekend brunch spread. It felt to me like these were the traditional foods that connected me to my New York-based family history, of what it meant to be Jewish in America, with a longing for a past that felt somehow more authentic (though not necessarily the part about living in tenements and working in the garment industry, which is also a part of my family history).
In honor of this Jewish-American history of lox, I include recipes that showcase lox in different ways beyond the classic cream cheese and bagel combination. First, I share my take on a lox eggs benedict. Instead of an English muffin, I use a croissant. In addition to the lox, I include arugula for flavor and textural and visual contrast. And while I fully support topping with a hollandaise sauce, I include a “cheater’s” alternative for weekend mornings when you might not have the patience.
Next, I share a recipe for scrambled eggs with lox, goat cheese and dill. While I enjoy any of these ingredients on their own, I find that they come together in a complementary way.
Finally, I share a recipe for a lox tartine with crème fraiche, quick pickled red onions and capers. Though it is similar in essence to a bagel with lox and cream cheese, it somehow has a very different feel, enhanced by the sharpness of the pickled red onion and capers matching the more subtle sour flavor of the crème fraiche. For a traditional experience, you can enjoy all these recipes using Acme’s smoked salmon.
Cheater’s Lox Eggs Benedict
Serves 1
Dairy or Pareve
Ingredients
1 croissant
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
2 eggs
1.5 ounces smoked salmon
Handful of arugula
Kewpie brand mayonnaise
Juice of ¼ of a lemon
Preparation
Slice the croissant in half crosswise and toast it to your preferred doneness. I like to get it crisp but not burnt. While the croissant is toasting, bring a medium pot of water, covered, to a boil.
In the meantime, prepare the hollandaise substitute by stirring together a mixture of Kewpie mayonnaise and lemon juice to your taste.
Once the water has come to a boil, add the salt and vinegar. Crack two eggs into a small bowl, swirl the water in the pot and add the eggs one by one. Cover the pot with the lid and remove from the heat. Let stand until cooked to your preferred doneness — I cook for 3.5 minutes to get the whites set and the yolks runny.
While the eggs cook, prepare a plate with a towel or paper towels. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place them on the plate with the towel to remove excess water.
Place the toasted croissant halves cut-side up on a plate and top with a layer of smoked salmon and a layer of arugula. Arrange the eggs on top of the arugula. Drizzle the hollandaise substitute over the eggs.
Scrambled Eggs with Lox, Goat Cheese and Dill
Serves 1
Dairy
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. butter or oil
Milk or heavy cream (optional)
1.5 ounces smoked salmon, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 ounce chevre or goat cheese crumbles
1-2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
Heat a medium pan over medium-low heat.
Crack eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper, adding milk or cream, if desired, and beat until homogenous.
Add the butter or oil to the heated pan. Once the butter has melted or the oil has heated, add the eggs to the pan, pushing set edges to the center of the pan with a spatula. Once eggs are mostly set, distribute the lox, goat cheese, and dill among the eggs, and stir to combine. Cook to desired doneness and serve.
Lox Tartine
Serves 1
Dairy
Ingredients
Tartine
3-4 oz. lox
2 slices bread, toasted
1/3 cup crème fraîche
Fresh squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp. lemon zest
Capers, to taste
Fresh cracked pepper
Quick Pickled Red Onions
¼ cup white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar)
½ Tbsp. sugar
¾ tsp. kosher salt
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
Preparation
Combine the pickling ingredients in a sealable jar. Add onions, seal and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour.
Place crème fraîche in a small bowl. Add lemon zest and juice to taste.
To assemble the tartine, spread a thin layer of the lemon crème fraîche on the toast. Layer the smoked salmon evenly on top of the toast, and top with a drizzle of the remaining crème fraîche. Finally, top with the pickled red onion, capers and fresh cracked pepper.
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