Species sheet · The Edible River
Huchen
The Danube salmon, a copper torpedo of fast water.
- Historically roasted in butter, as steaks
- Smoked, in the Bavarian and Austrian tradition
- Poached and served cold as a celebration fish
Protected species
It is eaten in some cultures. It is also a protected species, and we have no wish to encourage that.
- In French
- Huchon
- Scientific name
- Hucho hucho
- Status
- Protected species
- In the water
- Europe's largest salmonid, native to the Danube basin: big, fast, deep rivers, holding in pools below rapids in cold, clear water.
- Season & buying
- Endangered and protected: fishing for it is banned or tightly restricted across most of its rivers. The atlas shows it so you can recognise it, not to put it on a plate.
- Common length
- ~70 cm
- How to identify it
- Very long, almost cylindrical body with a coppery back
Flanks dotted with small cross-shaped black spots
Flattened head and the wide jaw of a predator
On the plate
Where it was once fished, its flesh was said to be pink, firm and fine, close to a large trout.
Avoid: Looking for it at the fish counter: a huchen for sale is almost always a poached fish. Watching it live is enough.
It hunts sizeable fish, nase above all, and anglers tell of specimens longer than a grown adult lying down.