When she was a girl my partner’s mother, Serena, spent a lot of time in Denmark, where she made good friends she kept for the rest of her life. Another legacy of her time there was this wonderful recipe for gravlax with dill sauce, which became a standby of hers, and ours, over the years.
While you can make precisely the amount of gravlax you need, Serena’s recipe calls for a whole fish, which is ideal for a party or celebration, and it’s always a hit. The flavour of the fish is accentuated beautifully by the curing, the texture is just luscious, and the dill sauce accompanies it perfectly. Whenever we serve it there are invariably requests for the recipe, so here it is.
Jan
GRAVLAX WITH MUSTARD DILL SAUCE AND PICKLED CUCUMBER
Serves 10-15
2.5 kg whole salmon or ocean trout, filleted (skin on) and pin-boned (you can ask your fish monger to do this)
4 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons peppercorns, crushed
2 teaspoons corn oil or olive oil
2 bunches fresh dill, stalks and all
Mix salt, sugar and pepper together in a bowl. Moisten the flesh side of each fish fillet with a teaspoon of oil and pat with some of the salt, sugar and pepper mixture.
Place a third of the dill in a non-corrosive container large enough to accommodate the fish lying flat. Place one fillet of fish on the dill, skin side down, and cover it well with some more of the seasoning mixture. Scatter over another third of the dill, and place the other fillet on top, skin side up, head-to-head, tail-to-tail, to reconstruct the shape of the fish. Cover with remaining seasoning and dill. Top with a piece of baking paper and a flat weight such as a thick plastic cutting board..
Cover the dish with cling wrap and refrigerate for 48-72 hours, turning the fish over once or twice.
Before serving scrape off the dill and seasonings and dry the fish with kitchen paper.
Carve on the diagonal into thin slices. Drizzle the sauce liberally over the gravlax and serve with pickled cucumber.
TIPS: While it’s best served within a few days of making, if left uncut and covered well, the gravlax will freeze perfectly for up to a few weeks.
Smaller fillets can be used instead of the 2 fillets from a whole fish, although ideally two pieces of the same size should be prepared together as they protect each other as they cure.
MUSTARD AND DILL SAUCE
2 tablespoons English mustard powder
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
4 tablespoons corn (or olive) oil
½ bunch fresh dill, picked from stalks
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
Place mustard and sugar in the small bowl of a food processor. Add vinegar and pepper and salt and pulse to combine. Pulse again, adding oil, drop by drop as you would to make mayonnaise. Finally add dill fronds and process just enough to incorporate and mince the dill.
The mixture will be very thick and pasty. It can be stored for a long time like this in the fridge, and is best made in advance to allow the mustard to mellow.
When ready to serve add a tablespoon or two of boiling water and mix well to make a creamy sauce.
PICKLED CUCUMBER
3 tablespoons caster sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 large telegraph cucumber of 4 Lebanese cucumbers, some skin removed
Stir sugar in vinegar to dissolve. Using a vegetable peeler or mandoline, finely slice the flesh from the cucumber, lengthways. Discard the centre with the seeds. Toss the cucumber slices in the vinegar mixture and turn occasionally to soften. Leave to pickle for around 30 minutes, then drain.