DISH RESEARCH · Main dish
Cedar-Smoked Salmon
Also known as: Cedar Smoked Salmon
Chef Matt Basile supplies the selected Cedar Smoked Salmon recipe. His September 2023 version cooks salmon skin-side up on a soaked cedar plank inside a smoker, then moves it to a plancha for a quick sear with lemon-caper butter. A charred cauliflower purée and reserved florets form part of the same one-serving preparation. Its directly published name and method support this particular version; a cedar plank used by another cook does not by itself establish the same process.
About Cedar-Smoked Salmon
Research draft based on the references below. These notes describe particular recipes and presentations; ingredient connections are still being reviewed.
Chef Matt Basile supplies the selected Cedar Smoked Salmon recipe. His September 2023 version cooks salmon skin-side up on a soaked cedar plank inside a smoker, then moves it to a plancha for a quick sear with lemon-caper butter. A charred cauliflower purée and reserved florets form part of the same one-serving preparation. Its directly published name and method support this particular version; a cedar plank used by another cook does not by itself establish the same process.
Basile describes tender salmon with a hit of smoke. That is the chef’s own impression of the dish, alongside his description of fire-kissed cauliflower. The butter sauce combines chopped capers and dill with lemon juice and zest. The source does not identify the smoker’s fuel or establish how much of the smoke comes from the cedar plank. It also does not demonstrate an Indigenous origin or ownership claim for this recipe.
The fish and cauliflower follow distinct cooking and finishing paths. The salmon spends about twenty-five to thirty minutes in the smoker before searing and basting. The cauliflower hangs above a fire for about thirty to forty minutes, with putting the head in the smoker given as another option. Basile describes its exterior char and slight softening, then blends it smooth with cream, garlic and lemon. The finished bowl places fish above the purée with extra butter, florets and chives.
Ingredients in Cedar-Smoked Salmon
For one serving, Basile lists an 8–10oz salmon filet, half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, a tablespoon of canola oil, half a cup of butter, two tablespoons of capers, one lemon with zest, half to three-quarters of a cup of fresh dill and a tablespoon of chive. The fish retains its skin for scoring and is placed skin-side up on the plank. Its scientific species is not identified. The cauliflower purée lists one head of cauliflower, half a cup of heavy cream, one garlic clove, the juice of a second lemon and salt. A few charred florets are reserved from that head for garnish. The butter and cream’s milk species and full supplier formulations, and the capers’ processing medium, are not provided. The cedar plank and its soaking water are contact and process materials, not edible ingredients. String or wire, a hook and the rotisserie attachment support the cauliflower above the fire. Saveur’s separate cedar-shake oven recipe uses a different six-serving formula and remains a related version; its ingredients, flavour description and roasting times are not combined with Basile’s.
Source limits: Direct exact Cedar Smoked Salmon title and smoker/plank/plancha sequence supported; no generic plank-grilling equivalence or Indigenous origin/ownership inferred.
Source limits: Salmon species unspecified. Smoker fuel and proportion of smoke attributable to cedar unknown. Cedar plank, soaking water, string OR wire, hook and grill equipment are nonfood contact/process roles.
Source limits: Water is explicit plank-soaking medium, not edible recipe water. Cream/butter milk species and supplier formula unknown; caper processing medium/compound formula unspecified.
Source limits: Card10minprep40mincook50mintotal excludes at least1hourplank soak; retain all intervals without correcting elapsed duration. Salmon25–30min at350F; cauliflower30–40min; plancha sear duration unspecified.
Source limits: Author tender/smoky impression supported; cauliflower char/slightly softened and blended smooth supported. No validated cooking endpoint, smoke safety or storage duration inferred.
Source limits: Saveur oven/cedar-shake six-serving Alaska field account is different named version; no flavours, ingredients or times imported into Basile selected recipe.
Source limits: Protected Indigenous tourism lead inaccessible; no claim of its body contents or its equivalence to Basile Canadian chef recipe.
- Salmon filet[1]Recipe ingredient
- Salt[1]Recipe ingredient
- Pepper unspecified[1]Identity unresolved
- Canola oil[1]Recipe ingredient
- Butter[1]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
- Capers[1]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
- Lemon juice and zest[1]Recipe ingredient
- Fresh dill[1]Recipe ingredient
- Chive[1]Topping or garnish
- Cauliflower[1]Recipe ingredient
- Heavy cream[1]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
- Garlic[1]Recipe ingredient
- Lemon juice[1]Recipe ingredient
- Salt[1]Recipe ingredient
These foods describe the cited recipe. Ask the kitchen about its version and any additional ingredients or handling.
Origins & food traditions
Explore the countries and cooking traditions associated with this dish. These connections do not establish a single birthplace or limit where the dish is eaten today.
Basile publishes this as his own recipe and identifies himself as the founder of Toronto-based Fidel Gastro’s. That supplies direct author and working-location context, but not a historical origin for cedar-smoked salmon. The inaccessible protected Indigenous tourism lead is not treated as evidence of its contents. Saveur separately publishes Christopher Hirsheimer’s account of improvising a cedar-and-salmon oven method aboard a friend’s boat in Alaskan waters. That account is personally attributed and uses untreated cedar shakes rather than Basile’s smoker, plancha and cauliflower accompaniment. Neither account proves that every cedar-smoked salmon dish shares one formula or cultural ownership.
Source limits: Direct exact Cedar Smoked Salmon title and smoker/plank/plancha sequence supported; no generic plank-grilling equivalence or Indigenous origin/ownership inferred.
Source limits: Salmon species unspecified. Smoker fuel and proportion of smoke attributable to cedar unknown. Cedar plank, soaking water, string OR wire, hook and grill equipment are nonfood contact/process roles.
Source limits: Water is explicit plank-soaking medium, not edible recipe water. Cream/butter milk species and supplier formula unknown; caper processing medium/compound formula unspecified.
Source limits: Card10minprep40mincook50mintotal excludes at least1hourplank soak; retain all intervals without correcting elapsed duration. Salmon25–30min at350F; cauliflower30–40min; plancha sear duration unspecified.
Source limits: Author tender/smoky impression supported; cauliflower char/slightly softened and blended smooth supported. No validated cooking endpoint, smoke safety or storage duration inferred.
Source limits: Saveur oven/cedar-shake six-serving Alaska field account is different named version; no flavours, ingredients or times imported into Basile selected recipe.
Source limits: Protected Indigenous tourism lead inaccessible; no claim of its body contents or its equivalence to Basile Canadian chef recipe.
Countries
Cuisines & regions
AI-generated illustration of one possible presentation. Recipes and ingredients vary; the image does not establish allergen content.
Sources & references
The selected recipe is Chef Matt Basile’s Cedar Smoked Salmon with Lemon-Caper Butter and Charred Cauliflower Purée, published 6 September 2023 on his own website. Its narrative, complete formula and photographic step captions are retained. Christopher Hirsheimer’s Saveur cedar-shake oven recipe is separately indexed as a related version, with no merged ingredients or timings.
Source limits: Direct exact Cedar Smoked Salmon title and smoker/plank/plancha sequence supported; no generic plank-grilling equivalence or Indigenous origin/ownership inferred.
Source limits: Salmon species unspecified. Smoker fuel and proportion of smoke attributable to cedar unknown. Cedar plank, soaking water, string OR wire, hook and grill equipment are nonfood contact/process roles.
Source limits: Water is explicit plank-soaking medium, not edible recipe water. Cream/butter milk species and supplier formula unknown; caper processing medium/compound formula unspecified.
Source limits: Card10minprep40mincook50mintotal excludes at least1hourplank soak; retain all intervals without correcting elapsed duration. Salmon25–30min at350F; cauliflower30–40min; plancha sear duration unspecified.
Source limits: Author tender/smoky impression supported; cauliflower char/slightly softened and blended smooth supported. No validated cooking endpoint, smoke safety or storage duration inferred.
Source limits: Saveur oven/cedar-shake six-serving Alaska field account is different named version; no flavours, ingredients or times imported into Basile selected recipe.
Source limits: Protected Indigenous tourism lead inaccessible; no claim of its body contents or its equivalence to Basile Canadian chef recipe.