To ask for help in substituting a cheaper pregnancy craving before I bankrupt us?

[LeapingUpstream]

This is possibly the most ridiculous problem I have ever considered bringing to Mumsnet, but I'm actually at my wit's end: I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant and for the last fortnight have been absolutely obsessed with smoked salmon. It's not something I usually eat or even particularly like, but now it's all I want, in vast quantities, at every meal.

Tried cheating with smoked mackerel yesterday and it was definitely not an acceptable alternative.

Assuming this means I'm lacking omega 3 or something so have started a supplement, but it doesn't seem to have helped. Frantically hoping someone can suggest something that might hit similar taste/ texture spots? I can't think of anything and it's driving me mad.

Or, failing that, how do I get rid of the craving!? Even rationing myself the current rate of consumption is not sustainable, but I'm literally catching myself daydreaming about it. Woke up at 5am today thinking about it, and ended up buying a packet on the way back from the school run and eating it for breakfast 😳. Husband and I are both wfh today and he's just offered to make bacon sandwiches for lunch... all I can think is that smoked salmon ones would be much better. Particularly if he gave me all the smoked salmon and ate the nasty, non-salmony bacon himself 😂.

Last pregnancy I just wanted cheese and onion crisps, but much less strongly than this, (and besides, I could have eaten an Aldi multipack a day for the whole forty weeks for less than I've already spent on salmon 😫) and in my first pregnancy I didn't have any cravings, so it's not something I've ever tried to deal with before!

Help!

Get it from Costco?

Smoked salmon trimmings in Asda

I didn't think you could eat tinned salmon or tuna? Is that a myth?

Oh my goodness I remember being terrified of running out of my cravings. With DC1 it was baguettes, roast potatoes and chocolate cake. With DC2 apples and pickles!

I don't know what to suggest but hope you find an alternative!

Trout is usually cheaper and tastes almost the same

Oh I really feel for you. You can never understand pregnancy cravings unless you’ve suffered from it. Mine was mint. I would eat anything mint and lots of mints everyday. I knew it wasn’t right to swallow toothpaste but once it was in my mouth when brushing my teeth I just couldn’t help but gulp. Try finding an alternative that tastes similar.

Sorry, there was a listeria outbreak last year. People died. So that NHS advice was added last year.
I was following it closely due to my line of work. They did an investigation and found no breaches in the handling of the fish, concluded it came from multiple sources of international fish supply, so instead of putting in any kind of quality control or mass testing they just published a list of vulnerable groups that should avoid it. Didn't fill me with confidence!

Fry your smoked salmon ( cheap bits is good) in a bit of butter, add some cream and serve on pasta. A little goes a long way salty taste wise.

Getting harder to find now, now supermarkets are more likely to stock a cheaper range salmon and a fancy one

How about anchovies op?

If its omega 3 you're missing, would mayonnaise help? I got completely addicted to it in pregnancy (and haven't recovered 23 year later) and also seem to have passed this on to DS! (I'm not sure how much omega 3 it does contain, but maybe some?)

It's a myth that food cravings relate to deficiencies so you can save a bit more by ditching the unnecessary Omega 3 pills.

If you really want to kill off your cravings Google “conditions in Scottish salmon farms”. Journo Corin Smith writes about it a lot. I’m not vegetarian nor vegan but we have stopped eating salmon in favour of more sustainable fish.

Even if you don’t care about the animal welfare nor the environmental impact, knowing that farmed salmon are used even if covered in lice and open wounds turns my stomach. They actually dye the fillets pink as farmed salmon is grey.

https://offthetable.org.uk/new-wildfish-report-breaching-the-limits-exposes-high-sea-lice-levels-on-scottish-salmon-farms-in-2022/

Please stop eating so much smoked salmon - it is not recommended to have raw salmon during pregnancy. Not only is there a risk of listeria, there is also the cumulative mercury poisoning, and the nitrates/preservatives.

To answer your question - there is no such thing as a substitute for good quality smoked salmon! Even cheaper smoked salmon is awful, let alone paste.

My pregnancy craving with DS1 was Redbull!

How about smoked cashews or almonds? Similar kind of intense savoury umami flavour, also good source of vitamin E and unsaturated fats...

I knew it would be smoked salmon before opening the thread!
I second the small bits chopped up in risotto idea- your partner will have to cook it as you can't be trusted with the open packet 😉

Sounds lovely could you share your recipe please.

Bacon sandwich. I believe Naked bacon is nitrate free as is proper Parma ham. The naked bacon is a bit pale & flaccid if you fry it, but I'd better if you have an air fryer. Food of the gods.

Ive done this so many times that I do it freehand now but this is about what I do. 2 eggs, beaten with about half a pot of cream, add grated parmesan, about 50g I guess, black pepper, salt. Cook pasta to your taste, drain, saving about a cup full of water. Put the pasta back in the pan, pour over the egg mixture and stir through with about half a pack of smoked salmon. Reheat VERY gently whilst stiring until the sauce just thickens a little. Transfer to serving bowls immediately, it will carry on cooking if you leave it in the hot pan. If you aren't very gentle with the heat its easy to end up with scrambled eggs so don't turn your back. Sometimes I chuck a couple of cloves of garlic in with the pasta. If it'd a bit thick add a splash of the water or a bit extra cream , if you feel fancy you can add some garlic bread and a side salad.

The fact that you shouldn't be eating it in the first place OP. Sorry, it was a huge craving for me too, but the baby comes first.

That first smoked salmon bagel after having the baby was divine!

Crab sticks?

Derailing but I didn't have a single craving in either pregnancy.

Well said @Porridgeislife.

Check out Don Staniford on Twitter @TheGAAIA

If he doesn't put you off farmed salmon, nothing will.

If its the smokiness, what about smoked paprika, its not really spicy, but a lovely smokiness, one of my favourite uses is a tomatoes chicken casserole, but also good on hard boiled eggs