London Cure Smoked Salmon joins list of European Protected Foods
London’s first PGI protected product will be H. Forman & Son’s London Cure Smoked Salmon.
The European Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, enforced by law, is designed to protect and celebrate traditional regional foods, such as gorgonzola in Italy or champagne in France.
In order to receive this status, the entire product must be processed within a specific region. London Cure Smoked must be produced within the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney or Newham. Fresh Scottish salmon and Scottish wild salmon already maintain PGI statuses.
Smoked salmon originated in Jewish communities in the East End of London at the turn of the last century, so this internationally renowned gourmet food now holds a designation reflecting its century old origin and craft.
Lance Forman, owner of H. Forman, says, “As the fourth-generation leader of a family business, we have seen traditional smokehouses in the East End of London dwindle from a multitude to almost none. Our business is not just to smoke salmon, but to act as keepers of an extraordinary tradition, with the mission and desire to educate the public on how this traditional food should be made.”
The ingredients in the London Cure are PGI-protected Scottish salmon, oak smoke and salt. PGI status protects consumers from buying cheap imitations that are not of equivalent quality, have additives, preservatives or sugar. In order to be considered London Cure, the salmon must be smoked and processed entirely by hand.
Michael Gove, the secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, states, “London Cure Smoked Salmon has been cherished by food lovers in the capital for generations and the traditional skills used to produce it today are testament to the rich culinary heritage we have in this country. It will now rightly sit alongside Cornish sardines, Conwy mussels and Whitstable oysters as examples of the world-class produce that uphold our reputation as a great food nation.”
