Pumpernickel and Rye

• Pumpernickel and rye are both strong-flavored breads that are classic pairings for smoked salmon, with the cream cheese adding a moderating creamy taste. Both breads are typically dense, dark in color and slightly sour. Pumpernickel contains mostly dark and coarse rye flour with some wheat flour, and is often sweetened with molasses. Plain rye bread is also dense, but comes in medium and light styles that are lighter in color and taste.

Sourdough

• White, whole-wheat or rye sourdough bread adds a smaller amount of the same tanginess or sourness of pumpernickel or regular rye. The tanginess of sourdough, which comes from its special sourdough yeast starter, stands up to smoked salmon in the same way that other strong-flavored breads do. Slice sourdough fairly thinly, no more than 3/4-inch thick, to make eating less difficult.

Bagels

• If your smoked salmon is the cold-smoked type called lox, serve it in the American-Jewish style -- on a bagel half, either toasted or not. Lox, also called Nova Scotia salmon, is softer and typically less salty than hot-smoked, Northwest-style salmon, which is more dense and sliced more thickly. Slice the bagel in thin slices and toast it on cookie sheets in the oven until the slices are crispy for a less-bready base.

Toasting and Grilling

• Toasting or grilling the bread you choose gives the smoked salmon a sturdy base. Simply toasting it in a toaster works fine, but spreading butter or olive oil on the bread and grilling it in a grill pan or in the broiler makes it more attractive and adds another layer of taste. Let the toast go cold before you spread the cream cheese so it remains solid and the toast is as crunchy as it can be.