Gravadlax – A Touch of Grandeur for the Scandinavian Table
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View CommentsDuring the Middle Ages, gravadlax was made by local fishermen who salted the salmon and lightly fermented it by burying it in the sand above the high-tide line. The word comes from the Scandinavian word grav – a grave or hole in the ground and lax which is a salmon. Nowadays fermentation isn’t used any more because the fish is “buried” in a dry marinade of salt, sugar and dill after which it is cured for a couple of days. As the salmon cures and as the action of osmosis takes place, the dry cure becomes a very concentrated brine and this brine is used in Scandinavian cooking to make sauces.
Ingredients
- 1 kg salmon, with the skin on and filleted
- 250 g dill sprigs
- 75 g chopped dill
- 75 ml Aquavit
- 2 tablespoons white peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
- 200 g Malden salt
- 100 g sugar
Method
- In a small food processor, pulse peppercorns, fennel seeds, and caraway seeds until coarsely ground.
- When this has been done, combine it with the salt and the sugar.
- On a large piece of cling wrap, sprinkle half of the salt mixture and then put the salmon on top, flesh side up.
- Cover this with remaining salt mixture, the dill sprigs and the Aquavit.
- Fold the cling wrap around salmon and wrap very tightly with some more of it.
- Refrigerate this for 72 hours, turning the package every 12 hours and using your fingers to redistribute the herb-and-spice-infused brine that accumulates as the salt pulls moisture from the salmon.
- If they make big enough Ziploc bags, my method would be the
- The fish should be firm to the touch at the thickest part when ready.
- Unwrap salmon, remove all the spices, dill, and brine and rinse it under cold running water – then pat dry with absorbent kitchen towels.
- Cover a large clean dish with the chopped dill and firmly press the flesh side of the gravlax into the dill to coat it evenly.
- Always slice the fish skin side down and on a board with a sharp knife.

