This week I’m publishing a recipe for lohikeitto, a classic Finnish salmon soup that goes heavy on dill. It's delicious (and I’m not just saying that because I developed it), but as I poured full-fat heavy whipping cream into a simmering pot of fresh salmon and root vegetables, I couldn’t help but hear that old Italian adage in the back of my mind: Never mix fish and dairy!
We’ve long known that a handful of sharp parmesan belongs on a chargrilled oyster, and who could argue with the perfection of cream cheese and lox? To be honest, I’ve never given much thought to this “rule” at all. But after tasting Lohikeitto, something clicked into place. The truth is that fish and dairy don’t just tolerate each other—they love each other.
Salmon is fatty, by fish standards, and cream is rich. They double down on each other’s decadence and both bring their own sweetness to the overall dish. A fresh shaving of a hard, aged cheese on a seafood pasta emphasizes the salinity and counterbalances the natural sweetness of shrimp, clams, or calamari. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself.
The myth has snowballed to the point where some believe mixing fish and cheese is somehow not only vaguely gross, but actively toxic. There’s no basis for this, and mixing fresh salmon and heavy cream is perfectly fine. In reality, the separation of seafood and dairy is simply a product of Italian geography: cheese is not historically made where the good seafood is. No one thought to put them together, and eventually people started saying you can’t. Today, you can, and you should. A good place to start is my recipe for lohikeitto.
What's your favorite fish and dairy combo? Let me know in the comments!
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