Citrus-cured salmon gravadlax

Name: Citrus-cured salmon gravadlax
Yield: 5 people
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 500 g salmon. Filleted, skin on, pin boned. I used sashimi-grade salmon; bunch fresh dill (50g) – to be used in the salt pack and also in the finish; 100 g maldon sea salt; 100 g demerara sugar; zest of a whole lime; zest of half an orange; zest of a whole lemon; 50 ml vodka – use good quality stuff

Matthew J Williams @matt

Bristol, UK

I prepared this as part of a starter for five people. Requires 10 hours to cure over night.

I've not included an accompaniment in this recipe, but this goes great with beetroot + balsamic puree, horseradish cream, and some cress.

I prepared this as part of a starter for five people. Requires 10 hours to cure over night.

I've not included an accompaniment in this recipe, but this goes great with beetroot + balsamic puree, horseradish cream, and some cress.

Matthew J Williams @matt

Bristol, UK

I prepared this as part of a starter for five people. Requires 10 hours to cure over night.

I've not included an accompaniment in this recipe, but this goes great with beetroot + balsamic puree, horseradish cream, and some cress.

I prepared this as part of a starter for five people. Requires 10 hours to cure over night.

I've not included an accompaniment in this recipe, but this goes great with beetroot + balsamic puree, horseradish cream, and some cress.

Saved

Ingredients

5 people

500 gsalmon. Filleted, skin on, pin boned. I used sashimi-grade salmon
bunchfresh dill (50g) – to be used in the salt pack and also in the finish
Ingredients in the salt pack, for curing
100 gmaldon sea salt
100 gdemerara sugar
zest of a whole lime
zest of half an orange
zest of a whole lemon
50 mlvodka – use good quality stuff

Saved

Steps

1

Here's some lovely salmon.
2

Chop the stalks off the fresh dill. Keep both the stalks and the dill – we're going to use both. Finely slice the stalks.
3

In a bowl, put the maldon sea salt. Add in also: lemon zest, lime zest, orange zest, demerara sugar, and the finely sliced dill stalks. Mix it together. This will be the salt pack for the salmon. Finally, mix in a shot of the vodka – no more than 50ml. Don't add so much vodka that it turns the salt pack into a liquid.
4

Cut the salmon into four slices.
5

Lay some clingfilm down in your kitchen surface.
We're going to cover the salmon with the salt mixture. Make sure to keep half the mix leftover for the next pair of slices.
6

Take a pair of salmon slices. Dip each slice into the bowl of salt mixture, to cover them in the mix. Put one slice onto the cling film, skin side down. Place some more salt mix on top. Then place the other slice on top, with the skin side up. Tightly cover the pair of salmon in the cling film, roll it in the cling film. Get some more cling film and tightly wrap the cling film again.
Repeat for the final pair of slices.
7

Place both cling filmed salmon parcels in the fridge. Leave for 5-10 hours or overnight. 5 hours will give a texture more towards sashimi. 10 hours will give a more more waxy, cured result.
8

Wait 5-10+ hours. ⏱
9

Remove the salmon from the fridge. Remove the cling film.
10

Remove the salt crust by hand. Give it a (very) brief rinse under the tap. Then dab try with some kitchen towel.
11

Finely chop some more dill. Cover each piece of salmon.
12

Carefully remove the skin with a very sharp knife. Slice the salmon into strips, with a line of dill running along the top.
13

Serve with your favourite accompaniment. Here I've served it with beetroot + balsamic puree, horseradish cream, and some cress.