Salt-cured Loch Duart with buttermilk, cucumber and oyster leaf
Three days' work, five minutes' eating, proper worth it
Loch Duart salmon is farmed right here in Sutherland — some of the cleanest water in the world. Curing it yourself is dead simple and tastes a thousand times better than shop-bought. The buttermilk cuts through the richness like a cool hand on a hot day, and oyster leaf grows wild on the rocks nearby if you know where to look.
How to Cook It
- 01
Mix your cure
Stir salt and caster sugar together in a small bowl. Pat your salmon fillet completely dry with kitchen paper — this matters, damp skin won't cure properly. Feel the texture change as you wipe.
~5 min - 02
Cure the fish
Lay the fillet skin-side down on a chopping board. Sprinkle the salt-sugar mix evenly over the flesh, working it gently into the surface with your fingertips. You should see it stick and start to glisten. Wrap loosely in clingfilm and place on a plate in the fridge.
~2 min - 03
Wait three days
Leave it alone. On day two, you'll see liquid pooling — this is right. On day three, the flesh will feel firmer, drier, cured. This is the hardest step because you'll want to eat it immediately.
~4320 min - 04
Rinse and rest
Run the fillet under cold water, rub gently with your thumb to remove excess salt crystals. Pat dry again. Lay it on a clean board and let it come to room temperature for 20 minutes — cold salmon tastes of nothing. The flesh should smell briny and clean.
~25 min - 05
Dress the cucumber
Slice your cucumber paper-thin on a mandoline or with a sharp knife. Dress lightly with a pinch of sea salt, a grind of pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Let it sit for 5 minutes — the salt will soften it just enough without turning it to slop.
~10 min - 06
Plate it up
Slice the cured salmon at an angle into 8-10 thin pieces. Lay them overlapping on cold plates. Spoon a generous dollop of buttermilk in the centre. Scatter cucumber slices around, drizzle good olive oil, scatter oyster leaf on top. A final squeeze of lemon juice, a grind of black pepper. Done.
~10 min
“Cold plates matter — fish sweats on warm china. Build it loose and generous, not fussy. The buttermilk should pool slightly, inviting you to drag the salmon through it. Cucumber should look artless, not architectural. Oyster leaf on top catches the light and looks alive. No sauces, no fussing. Let the fish speak.”
First bite is a shock of brine and richness, the buttermilk cooling you down immediately. The cucumber crunch comes next, bright and acidic. Oyster leaf delivers a mineral, almost metallic note that makes your mouth wake up. The salmon itself is silky, properly cured but not overdone — you taste the sea and the loch in equal measure. Finish is clean, lemony, lingering salt.
Cure thick slices of smoked tofu (or raw watermelon for texture contrast) with the same salt-sugar mix for 24 hours instead of three. Serve with cashew cream (soak 100g cashews, blend with 150ml water, squeeze of lemon) instead of buttermilk. Everything else stays the same — cucumber, oyster leaf, olive oil, lemon. The result is clean, savoury, and oddly satisfying; the cure technique actually works on vegetables if you respect the timing.
Crisp, salty, mineral — echoes the oyster leaf and doesn't overpower the delicate fish
Malty sweetness complements the salty cure; local brewery, proper choice
Make it yourself — cold, refreshing, lets the fish be the star without alcohol
- ·Don't skip the three days — rushing the cure tastes thin and salty
- ·If oyster leaf is truly unavailable, use the delicate young leaves of wild sorrel or even samphire; the point is something coastal and slightly funky
- ·Leftover cured salmon keeps in the fridge for a week, loosely wrapped; slice thinner each day as it dries
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