For its colour alone, fresh salmon is a festive choice. But it's prized, too, for its richness and texture, and its skin, cooked to a crunchy crispness, is an irresistible treat.

Go east with Asian flavours, or opt for a Swedish treatment, complementing the fish with fresh dill and the best potatoes.

SALMON FACTS

• A salmon's flesh is pink because of the carayatid pigment contained in the crustaceans it eats.
   
• Salmon is regarded as one of the best ways of getting omega-3 fatty acids, but this fatty-acid intake is particularly important prior to the conception and has been shown to be an important factor in the development of a foetus’s brain.
   
• The utilisation in the body of omega-3 fatty acids may be negatively influenced by fats included in a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids, such as sunflower oil. Instead, opt for a variety of cold-pressed oils, such as olive and canola oil, and avoid using margarine made with sunflower oil.
   
• Omega-3 fatty acids from plant sources may not be utilised as well by some people as omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish and omega-3 eggs. Fatty fish is therefore thought to be a better source of omega-3 fat than linseed, for example.
   
• Salmon can be baked, braised, grilled, pan fried, pan roasted, poached, sautéed, seared and steamed.
   
• Salmon is great with aïoli, anchovies, avocado, basil, capers, caviar, champagne, citrus, Cognac, cumin, five-spice powder, mint, mustard, sesame, walnuts, watercress, crème fraîche and horseradish.
   
• The best sauces to serve with salmon or béarnaise sauce, beurre blanc, bordelaise sauce, hollandaise sauce and mousseline sauce.