gravlax....

[TasunkaWitko]

Another year, another Superbowl, another gravlax ~ anyone interested can check it out here: http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=1105&title=a-new-gravlax-project


alright, it's made and sitting in the fridge under some weight. preparation was pretty much identical to last year's, except for the vacuum sealing.

here's all you need:

non-iodized salt - 1/4 cup
sugar 1/4 cup (i used turbinado "sugar in the raw," guessing that this would be closer to what they had in the days of yore
freshly-ground black pepper - 2 TBSP
1 large bunch of fresh dill
1 fillet of salmon

the "goods" are identical to what i used last year, except i used a freshly-cracked multicolored peppercorn medley rather than black. also, i was able to use all fresh dill since i bought two bunches of it. neither by themselves had enough "good" dill to be enough, but together, i was able to get a good bunch.

here's the salmon fillet:
View attachment 51

and the salt/sugar/pepper curing mixture:
View attachment 52

and the coarsely-chopped fresh dill:
View attachment 53

here on the left you can see one fillet with half the curing mixture plus the dill - i then put about half the remaining curing mixture directly on the other fillet as pictured here:
View attachment 54

then after taking this shot, i spread the other half of the remaining curing mixture on top of the dill - then sandwiched them together. the important thing when sandwiching them together is to put the thickest part of one fillet up against the thinnest part of the other fillet, skin side out.

after that, i vacuum-sealed the two fillets together. this was a bit of a messy job, but i think it will prove to be well worth the effort, since the vacuum suction will continue to "pull" the juices out of the fillets, leaving behind the cured goodness that the swedes discovered.
View attachment 55

then, i put the sealed fillets into a glass baking dish, and weighted the package down with another glass baking dish and a box of rock salt. i'll flip and rotate periodically between now and sunday, but it looks like it's going to be really good!

 

[Beer-B-Q]

I've heard about that stuff, even the guy on the travel channel that will try anything, Anthony Zimmer, says it is awful... LOL

 

[TasunkaWitko]

oh, it is good stuff indeed. anyone who appreciates salmon and also appreciates prosciutto or serrano ham will immediately take a liking to this wonderful, cured salmon.

well, even though this was only my second attempt, i'd say it went off very well. here we are all sliced up thinly and laid out with some saltines:

once again, i did not rinse off the fillets, i simply scraped off the dill and dabbed with paper towels. the gravlax was firm and while it was not dry, it certainly was not wet, either.

the taste was exactly what gravlax should be, a well-balanced blend of salty, sweet, spicy from the pepper with the dill pushing the taster right into the fjords of scandinavia. there was a slight, pleasant salmon flavour that evoked days at sea in a longship or nights in a dining hall toasting the gods of valhalla. texture was not unlike a thinly-sliced, cured ham.

near as i can tell, this was classic, textbook gravlax with no complications at all. as for becoming a superbowl tradition, who knows? the family was split on this - the folks who love it, love it. but the folks who don't consider it a waste of time and money.

 

[Beer-B-Q]

Must not be the same stuff I am thinking of...

What is the stuff that is made out of salted COD and soaked in Lye?

 

[TasunkaWitko]

that, my friend, is lutefisk, and i will agree that it takes a special kind of person to enjoy that......