Gravlax is a festive dish and is used in a wide variety of ways. It is frequently served with a mild, sweet mustard-dill sauce: Gravlaxsås or Hovmästarsås (French: "maitre d'hôtel "sauce).

Common uses for gravlax are as the main dish with dill potatoes, by itself as a side, or part of another delicacy - like baked potatoes with shrimp and crawdad infused skagenröra. A favorite of mine, which my American friends find bizarre, is the smörgåstårta with gravlax (literally: sandwich cake). It is savory, not sweet and it is my birthday cake of choice.

Gravlax literally means "Buried Salmon" which comes from its roots in the Middle Ages. Originally gravlax was made by the local fishermen. Like other similar fish preservations dated from that time the fish was salted and fermented by burying it. The word gravlax comes from the Swedish word [gräva] (Eng: to dig "hole in the ground, ditch, grave").

Back in the Middle Ages the gravlax was only lightly fermented and was not given an overpowering fermentation flavor as in the infamous surströmming. Over time the fermentation part was ignored. Nowadays the burying part of gravlax is done by adding salt, sugar, white peppar and dill and curing it within plastic wrap or a zip-lock bag.

During the curing process there is wonderful osmosis magic that transforms the salmon. The drawn-out moisture transforms the dry rub cure into a concentrated dill infused brine. A very similar process is also used for curing wild game meats, which I should write about another time.

The grav-curing process can be made with all types of fatty fish. In Scandinavia, salmon is the most common fish that is cured this way.

Gravlax Ingredients

• 2lbs salmon in filets. Skin is not removed.
  The middle piece of the salmon is best for curing.
  
  You should start from a frozen salmon. If you bought it fresh from the store and are not sure if it was previously frozen then it should be put in the freezer before curing it. I recommend a freezer with at least 0° F. A smaller piece of salmon should be frozen for at least 3 days and a whole salmon for at least a week.

• 2tsp white pepper coarsely ground
  Optional: same amount but also add black pepper.

• 1 big bouquet of dill. Chopped coarsely
  For gravlax there is no such thing as too much dill. Seriously, just pile it on.

• 5 tbsp sugar.
  There should always be a little bit more sugar than salt for successful Nordic style curing of salmon or wild game

• 4 tbsp salt (non iodine)

Gravlax, Curing The Salmon

• Remove all the bones from the salmon. I find that using a fish plier makes the job easy.

• Mix pepper, salt, sugar. Rub in the salt mixture on the flesh side of the salmon

• Add the dill on top of the flesh side and pat it so it sticks to the cure mix.

• Put the salmon in a plastic bag and place it in the fridge. If you can, place something of at least equal weight on top of the bag. This will help to make the meat more firm.

• The skin side should be down.
  The dill packed flesh side should be facing up.
  After 24 hours, turn the salmon so the skin side is UP.
  
  Some people just rotate it once per day. It's not rocket science. It'll turn out great regardless.

• Let it be for 2-3 days in the fridge

• Gently brush away the spice and salt mix

• Serve, in thin slices with gravlaxsås.
  Gravlaxsås is a mustard based sauce that is made to complement perfectly the flavors of the gravlax. You can buy it at IKEA but it is easy to make at home, see recipe below.