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Gravlax – The Scandinavian gourmet salmon dish

Gravlax is a diminutive, it means “buried salmon” in Swedish for “Gravad Lax”, however this solid, prosaic and rather boring name does not come close to describing this fantastic smooth, smooth and elegant appetizer. However, gravlax got its name from the old way of preparing it which consisted of salting salmon, putting it in an old barrel and burying it underground for several days or even several months if it was to be kept for the winter. Modern recipes often add aquavit or vodka to salmon, but for me the simple old way is better because with gravlax, less is definitely more. When dill came into vogue, no one knows, and while I hate dill in anything else, it is part of gravlax like strawberry cream and cream. I’ve seen it make myrtle leaves and fennel seeds, I’ve often wondered what it would be like with wild fennel leaves, but I’ve never been able to test it.

Gravlax is cured salmon, but that is no excuse not to use the freshest salmon, even if you have some salmon that has been languishing in the bottom of the fridge for a few days, give it to the cat, who will probably flip it over. the nose anyway. because they have such a strong sense of smell.

It’s not rocket science to determine that you use the same weight of sugar as salmon and twice the salt, because at the end of the day you are looking for a preserved salty taste. Americans tend to use twice as much sugar instead of salt, but that’s not the Scandinavian way, and it destroys the salty taste that is the goal of the dish.

Ingredients

500g salmon fillet
1 kg of coarse salt
500g sugar
2 tablespoons of ground white pepper
A large bunch of fresh dill
Plastic wrap.

Method.
Clean the salmon and dry it well with paper towels, place it in a glass container and cover it with your herbs. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, and pepper and coat the salmon with it. Place the plastic wrap directly on the fish and weigh it. You can use anything heavy, old-fashioned kitchen weight wine bottles, but the idea is to extract the water from the salmon and make it tougher. Leave for six or seven days. A big weight is a small change sealed bag because the small change rolls around the fish and hits all the right places.

When ready to serve wash and cut very very finely with a very sharp knife and serve with a very good quality whole wheat bread and a little butter.

Variations
Deluxe Scrambled Eggs are fabulous with added gravlux.

Serve with fresh blinis and mix horseradish with fresh cream or sour cream.

Serve chilled with a little mustard sauce.

Italian food is simple, elegant and fabulous, making the most of the freshest ingredients. Italians don’t ask how much food it is, they ask how fresh it is. The concept of the weekly store is alien to them, their fruits and vegetables are bought every day. The great thing about Italian food is the fact that they have no such thing; Italy was an independent conglomerate of states until 1870.

Each area has its own kitchen and that kitchen has been forged over centuries of geography and history. For example, Northwest food has a closer relationship with Central European food because it was influenced by its neighbor, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the south the flavors of the Mediterranean predominate, olive oils, fresh and dried fruits influenced by the Moors, tomatoes brought from the New World.

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