Gravad lax — dill-cured salmon
A salmon fillet buried for several days in a mixture of salt, sugar, and dill until silky and translucent. Thinly sliced and served with a mustard-dill sauce.
A salmon fillet buried for several days in a mixture of salt, sugar, and dill until silky and translucent. Thinly sliced and served with a mustard-dill sauce.
For entertaining, nothing equals this salmon. We bury it — gravad means buried — under salt and sugar, with a forest of dill, and let it ripen three days under a weight, like a promise. When you slice it, the flesh has become amber and silk. I served it to my circle of friends, those with whom I sought the invisible; the body too must have its share of beauty.
- •Fresh salmon fillet — a nice piece (festive fish)
- •Coarse salt — generously (curing)
- •Sugar — almost as much (balances the cure)
- •Fresh dill — a large bunch (signature flavor)
- •Crushed white pepper — a little (spice)
Gravad lax — dill-cured salmon
A salmon fillet buried for several days in a mixture of salt, sugar, and dill until silky and translucent. Thinly sliced and served with a mustard-dill sauce.
Why this dish? Cured salmon is the festive dish of the Swedish smörgåsbord — brought out for Christmas, Midsummer, or entertaining guests. In the cultivated bourgeois circles of Stockholm where af Klint moved, it was the elegant centerpiece of the cold table, served with a mustard-dill sauce.
For entertaining, nothing equals this salmon. We bury it — gravad means buried — under salt and sugar, with a forest of dill, and let it ripen three days under a weight, like a promise. When you slice it, the flesh has become amber and silk. I served it to my circle of friends, those with whom I sought the invisible; the body too must have its share of beauty.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh salmon fillet — a nice piece (festive fish)
- Coarse salt — generously (curing)
- Sugar — almost as much (balances the cure)
- Fresh dill — a large bunch (signature flavor)
- Crushed white pepper — a little (spice)
Ingredients
- Salmon fillet with skin, very fresh — 600 g (festive fish)
- Coarse salt — 60 g (curing)
- Sugar — 50 g (balances the cure)
- Fresh dill — 1 large bunch (signature flavor)
- Crushed white pepper — 1 tsp (spice)
- Mild mustard, vinegar, oil, dill (sauce) — for serving (accompaniment)
Method
- Mix salt, sugar, and pepper. Rub the mixture onto the flesh side of the salmon.
- Cover generously with dill, fold the fillet or place skin-side down in a dish, wrap with plastic, and weigh down with a weight.
- Refrigerate for 48 to 72 hours, turning the fish once a day and basting with its juices.
- Wipe off the cure, slice very thinly on the bias. Serve with a mustard-dill sauce (hovmästarsås) and bread.
How it was made : Originally, Scandinavian fishermen buried salted salmon in sand above the tide line to lightly ferment it — gravad means 'buried.' The modern version, simply salt-sugar cured in the fridge, emerged in the 19th century and no longer involves fermentation.
The contemporary twist : Arrange the slices in a fan of pale spirals on a dark slate — an almost abstract composition, in homage to her 'Paintings for the Temple'.
Hilma af Klint · Charactorium