Quick Gravlaks

One of my favourite dishes from the Scandinavian smorgasbord is gravlaks - variously called gravad lax or gravlax - not to be confused with some commercial varieties which is just dill flavoured smoked salmon.

Grave means to bury in English and originally, in the Middle Ages, Norwegian fishermen would bury the salmon - or laks - in the sand just above the high-tide mark, where it was left to ferment before it was eaten with dill known among the Norse for relieving gas.

But these days gravlaks is raw salmon which has been dry cured i salt, pepper, salt, sugar and dill in a lengthy process taking about four days.

However, one Christmas my mother came visiting from Norway she brought with her a recipe which she said was a quick way of preparing gravlaks, taking only 24 hours. The secret ingredient was bock ale or bitter ale.

Rather than dry cure the salmon, we marinated it in salt, pepper, sugar and dill and two cans of Victoria Bitter which produced a wonderfully melt-in-the mouth gravlaks with all the flavours blending perfectly into the best gravlaks I’ve ever tasted.

I have since experimented and found that using ocean trout and a wooded Australian chardonnay instead of beer gives the gravlaks an extra depth of flavour.

Because ocean trout is generally a smaller fish, I usually end up buying the biggest I can find from which I get two whole side fillets. This requires fiddly removing of bones with tweezers from the front part of the fish.

I welcome the arrival of fresh NZ King Salmon on the market where the tail - the best end of the fish - can easily produce two fillets of about 1kg:

1kg fillet of NZ King Salmon

55g salt

50g sugar

35g freshly ground white pepper

1 cup freshly cut dill or 1/2 cup dry dill

2 cans Victoria Bitter (or a wooded chardonnay)

Brandy

1/2 cup freshly cut dill

Mustard sauce for gravlaks

Blinis or Melba toast (for appetisers)

young salad leaves for garnish (for entree)

Scrambled egg for Gravlaks (for entree)

Dill for garnish

Preparation:

1. Scale the fillets then pierce the skin throughout with a needle to allow the marinade penetrate to the flesh. Mix the dry ingredients together; cover a shallow glass or ceramic dish with half the ingredients; place the salmon fillets on top, skin side down; cover with the rest of the mix; and pour the beer (or chardonnay) over until the fish is just covered. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 24 hours turning the fillet every six hours. Another option is to use a large leak-proof snaplock bag and turn the bag every six hours.

2. After 24 hours, remove the fish, rinse under running cold water until the spices and dill are removed and dry gently on a paper towel. Place fillets, skin side down, on a double sheet of aluminium foil big enough to wrap each fillet, moisten with brandy and cover with the freshly chopped dill. Wrap up the fillets and leave overnight in the fridge or freeze until needed. The gravlaks will keep up to a month in the freezer.

3. Just before serving slice the salmon thinly on the slant and serve with mustard sauce - either as an appetiser or as an entree with cold scrambled egg (see below).

Mustard Sauce for Gavlaks

2 tbsp  sweet mustard

1 egg yolk

33ml vinegar

1 tsp icing sugar

100ml light olive oil

2 tblsp light sour cream

1/5 tsp white pepper

½  cup of fresh dill

Preparation: Mix together mustard, egg yolk, icing sugar and vinegar. Blend in oil a little at the time to ensure the sauce does not separate. Add sour cream and dill and season to taste. The sauce is best when made a few days beforehand and kept in the fridge before serving.

Scrambled egg for Gavlaks

2 tblsp reduced fat butter

4 eggs

3 tblsp reduced fat cream, or milk

1 tblsp Champagne or sparkling wine

1/2 cup chopped dill

Freshly ground white pepper

Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Place butter in a mircowave safe bowl and cover, melt on high for 10 seconds; break the eggs into the bowl and add the cream and Champagne. Adding Champagne or sparkling wine will make the scrambled eggs very light and fluffy. Return to microwave for one minute on high, stir, breaking up any cooked eggwhite around the edge, return for 30 seconds to the microwave and stir again and repeat if necessary for another 30 seconds.

2. If the eggs are still runny, return to the microwave for another 20 seconds. Add the dill and leave to cool and season when cold.

To serve:

1. For an appetiser, place a slice or two of gravlaks on blinis or tiny pancakes, melba toasts or crispbread halves, drizzle mustard sauce over it and garnish with snipped dill scattered on top.

Alternatively, serve as an entree by placing salad leaves in the middle of each place, pile two tablespoons of cold scrambled eggs on top, drape four to six slices of gravlaks over the scrambled eggs, drizzle with mustard sauce and scatter snipped dill on top and serve.