Recipe for Salmon Gravla

by Ingrid the Unreasonable
A traditional old Skarsind recipe – when I was a girl, this was simply a way of preserving fresh fish. The fishermen would simply cut their catch open, bury it thick sand or beneath a stony shore, and douse it in strong spirits to be preserved by the salty earth and retrieved later.

This is a more refined version, fit for fine halls and honoured guests.

You will need - Lay the salmon, skin-down, in a large shallow casserole dish. Run your clean fingers over the surface of the salmon with gentle pressure, feeling for any stray pin-bones. If you find any of these, remove them carefully with a pair of tweezers.
 * A large side of filleted salmon
 * Several generous handfuls of fresh dill
 * Mustard
 * Fine salt
 * Caster sugar
 * Good, strong gin

Mix the sugar, salt, mustard and gin in equal parts (I usually use about 5 generous spoonfuls) and slather the mixture over the salmon. Massage the mixture into the salmon with the back of a spoon, making sure all the flesh is well-covered.

Take your handfuls of dill and arrange them thickly over the salmon. You shouldn’t be able to see anything under this layer of dill – you can’t really use too much!

Cover the dish loosely with film, leaving plenty of slack. This is important, so that you can place a weight on top of the dish to press down the dill into the salmon. Leave this chilled for at least 48 hours. To serve, scrape away the dill and any excess sauce. Place on a chopping board and slice thinly.

When bringing this dish to Anvil, I have usually kept it at the bottom of the icebox for the last day of travelling, beneath the frozen meat, and serve it with Saturday luncheon – though you will need to check your dish fits flat into the bottom of your icebox.