There is nothing quite like a bagel with lox and cream cheese. However, one of the most interesting things about this is the phenomenon in which an awful lot of people don’t seem to quite know what lox really is. After all, when we’re talking about lox, aren’t we really just talking about smoked salmon?
The answer to this question is just a little more complex than you might suspect. At the same time, you are also going to want to appreciate the possibilities that are available to you, in terms of both lox and smoked salmon.
What Is The Difference Between Lox and Smoked Salmon?
In the end, smoked salmon is a considerably more generalized term than lox, which actually refers to something very specific. With smoked salmon, you’re talking about blanket terms for any type of salmon you can imagine. This list includes wild salmon, farmed salmon, fillet salmon, steak salmon, or even salmon that has been cured with hot or cold smoke. All of those qualify as smoked salmon.
When it comes to lox, we’re talking about salmon that has gone through a particular process. Lox generally refers to salmon that has been cured in salt-sugars or brines. For example, with Nova, you’re talking about something that is first cured, and then cold-smoked. Hot-smoked salmon is yet another possibility, referring to salmon that goes through a curing process, before it is then prepared with heated wood smoke.
All of this is interesting enough. However, if you were to ask an absolute purist to define lox, their answer would likely surprise you. Some people go by the strictest definition possible, which means they only consider the salmon to be lox when it comes from the belly part of their salmon. Most people don’t think in such extreme terms.
Even so, if you want to enjoy a true, indisputable experience of eating a bagel with cream cheese and lox, you’ll want to go for the version outlined above. For many people, trying a bagel like this, and then going back to absolutely anything else, is pretty much impossible. If you are truly interested in making sure you’re only dealing in real lox, don’t be afraid to ask whoever you’re buying it from. Generally speaking, most places are going to call any salmon that’s gone through a smoking process lox.
For a lot of people, that definition outlined above still amounts to a pretty amazing bagel and cream cheese experience.
