Norwegian Salmon - Grav Lax

Total Time: 72 hrs Preparation Time: 72 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 kg salmon fillet
• 60 ml sea salt
• 70 ml sugar
• 3 ml peppercorns, slightly crushed in a mortar
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 50 ml mustard (dijon is best)
• 5 ml sugar
• 5 ml vinegar
• salt, pepper
• 90 ml mild vegetable oil (not olive oil!)
• additional fresh dill, finely chopped

Recipe

• 1 for the salmon, remove all bones with a pair of tweezers, but leave the skin on.
• 2 rinse.
• 3 mash the dill stems in a mortar with a little of the salt.
• 4 mix with the rest of the salt, the sugar and pepper.
• 5 save the dill leaves for the sauce.
• 6 cover the flesh side of the fillets with the mixture, and place the fillets flesh-to-flesh in a tray made of glass or stainless steel.
• 7 cover with plastic foil and put a heavy weight on top (e. g. the mortar or a brick).
• 8 keep refrigerated for 72 hours, turning the fillets every 12 hours.
• 9 do not discard the liquid that formsuntil the end of 72 hours. ( a lot of liquid will form).
• 10 scrape off the spices and discard the liquid.
• 11 the salmon will keep refrigerated for about a week.
• 12 for the sauce, mix mustard, sugar and vinegar.
• 13 add the oil a teaspoon at a time, constantly stirring.
• 14 just before serving, add lots of dill and salt and pepper to taste.
• 15 slice the salmon with a sharp, flexible knife in big, thin slices parallell to the skin.
• 16 arrange the ice-cold salmon on lettuce leaves with slices of lemon.
• 17 serve the sauce separately.
• 18 optional: also serve toasted bread and butter.