Lox is thinly sliced salmon that's been cured in salt brine, giving it a silky texture and delicate, slightly salty flavor. Unlike smoked salmon, lox isn't cooked or exposed to smoke: the salt preserves the fish while keeping it tender and smooth.

The word comes from the Yiddish word laks, meaning salmon, and lox became popular in New York City through Jewish delicatessens. You'll most often find lox served on a bagel with cream cheese, along with sliced tomatoes, onions, and capers. This combination, sometimes called “lox and schmear” (schmear being Yiddish for a spread), has become a classic breakfast or brunch dish.

The curing process for lox is similar to how people preserved fish before refrigeration existed: salt draws out moisture, preventing bacteria from growing. Today, people eat lox not because they need to preserve salmon, but because they love its unique, melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich taste. If you visit a bagel shop and see “Nova lox” on the menu, that's a slightly different style that is lightly smoked, named after Nova Scotia, where that technique became popular.