Pickled salmon in Norwegian style (Gravlax)
8 servings
60 minutes
Gravlax is a classic dish of Norwegian cuisine dating back to the Viking era. Back then, fish was salted and buried for fermentation. Today, salmon is marinated in a mixture of salt, sugar, alcohol, and aromatic spices for a unique flavor. Gravlax has a refined sweet-salty taste with subtle anise notes, while dill adds freshness. It's perfect as an appetizer with rye bread, mustard sauce, or simply lemon slices. Its ease of preparation makes it a favorite among home gourmets: just a couple of days in brine and you have an exquisite treat. It's not just a dish but part of Norway's culinary heritage embodying natural harmony and love for quality ingredients.
1
Thoroughly clean the fish from scales, remove the tail, fins, and head. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
2
Cut the teshis (thin pieces of flesh on the belly). Make an incision along the spine and, using a thin knife, remove the fillet from the spine. Remove any remaining bones.
3
Weigh the resulting fillet. For every 500 grams of fillet, take 2 tablespoons of salt, 2.5 tablespoons of sugar, and 2.5 tablespoons of alcohol.
- Salt: 12 tablespoons
- Sugar: 15 tablespoons
- Vodka: 15 tablespoons
4
Chop the dill very finely along with the stems. Crush the dry spices in a mortar, mix with salt and sugar.
- Dill: 2 bunchs
- Anise (star anise): 1 teaspoon
5
Sprinkle the bottom of the container with alcohol, cover with a mixture of salt, sugar, and spices, and lightly sprinkle with dill. Place the first fillet (if the fish is large and the fillet doesn't fit anywhere, it's allowed to cut it into several pieces) skin side down at the bottom. Then layer the fish 'meat to meat' tightly pressing them together to make 'sandwiches'. Inside the sandwich add dill, a mixture from a mortar and lightly spray with alcohol.
- Vodka: 15 tablespoons
- Salt: 12 tablespoons
- Sugar: 15 tablespoons
- Dill: 2 bunchs
6
If there are more fish than one layer, another pair of fillets is placed on top with the sandwich, and between the layers of sandwiches, dill, salt, sugar, spices are sprinkled, and it is drizzled with alcohol.
- Salt: 12 tablespoons
- Sugar: 15 tablespoons
- Dill: 2 bunchs
- Vodka: 15 tablespoons
7
Place a board with a small weight (a half-liter jar of water) on the fish, close the lid, and leave it in a warm place for six hours. After six hours, move it to the refrigerator for another two days. After two days, remove the weight and keep the fish in brine (there will be plenty) under a lid.