The reason I was so surprised was that I've had previously frozen salmon before that was terrible, so I concluded that salmon doesn't freeze well. What I didn't take into account was that it was wild Coho and Sockeye Salmon that tasted awful. They are extremely lean compared to farm-raised Atlantic or King salmon and do turn to mush when frozen. So when you choose your salmon for freezing, go with Atlantic (always farm-raised) or King (farm-raised or wild).Absurd. Friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon. For one, it is terrible for the environmentas currently practiced (check out Raincoast Research Society's great work on this subject). For two, all the farmed salmon I've ever consumed has tasted like soggy cardboard--even the fresh farmed king I had in Patagonian Chile.
Also, for the record, we have been freezing king, sockeye, and coho salmon forever with a very high quality result. Our guests rarely, if ever, realize it has been frozen and when we tell them so they begin to question the idea that freezing it so bad for fish. As is mentioned on the blog I bash above (which is pretty well done over all), this is a myth; what is important is how and when the fish is frozen, not whether it was frozen. My dad has always said that freezing should be done very quickly in a good quality freezer and that whole fish survive better than fillets because their is less flesh exposed to the air. From the discussion on the Beyond Salmon blog I learned why quicker is better:
I agree with Tse-Wei aho said that ice crystals can be made smaller if you freeze it very very quickly- metallurgical fact- yes I am a materials doctoral student! So it would make sense that a fish flash frozen at sea would last longer, preserve taste and texture than if you were to do the same thing at home. Also I agree with Helen that you should never defrost meat or fish or any food for that matter very quickly- i.e. do not microwave, or on your counter top.