My Mom’s Gravlax Recipe

The holidays, my mom’s birthday (on winter solstice) and my birthday all fall in the month of December, and so early winter has always been a time of a lot of celebration for my family.  One of the most memorable ways we would celebrate the holidays was by making gravlax. I remember the first week of December every year, opening up the fridge to see a tray of fish pressed down with a brick wrapped in tin foil (more on that later), and I would know the holidays had started.  This is the gravlax my mom brought as an app to dinner parties, served on Christmas Eve, and that we ate on bagels as a quick breakfasts on the way to the ski hill.

Note: this recipe is adapted from George Lange’s Café Des Artistes recipe, printed originally in the New Basics Cook Book.

Ingredients for Gravlax

2 salmon fillets

2 tablespoons of aquavit (I use Brennevin, which is an unsweetened Icelandic spirit)

1/3 cup coarse kosher salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons course ground or crushed black pepper

Fresh dill springs

Mustard Dill Sauce

1 ½ tablsepoons of white wine vinegar (red wine vinegar works if that is all you have)

1 tablespoon sugar

½ cup olive oil

5 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

1 chopped fresh dill sprig

1 heaping tablespoon white or black ground peppercorn

For Serving

A few lemons

A few fresh springs of dill

One sliced and toasted baguette

Instructions

1.     Slowly thaw your salmon fillets in the fridge (I prefer to thaw overnight). Rinse the fillets and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the fillets flesh side up in a container (I use a glass Pyrex) and sprinkle with the aquavit.

2.     Combine sugar, salt and black pepper in a bowl and rub into the skinless side of the fillets. Cover the fillets in fresh dill springs and place one on top of the other (skin on the outside, flesh touching.

3.     Cover the fillet with foil.  Place a platter or chopping board over the fillets and weigh it down. My mom uses a foil wrapped brick resting on top, but you can use whatever! I’ve used cans, rocks, and even books in the past.

4.     Refrigerate for 24-36 hours, flipping the fillets over every 12 hours.

5.     When the salmon is finished marinating, brush off extra salt/pepper mixture, cut off the skin, and slice into thin pieces.

6.     Whisk together the ingredients for the mustard dill sauce, toast your baguette bread, and enjoy!

Note: The leftover salmon skin can be cut into small strips and fried for a great garnish or salad topper!