Dishes · A classic of Nordic and Baltic rye
Gravlax
Raw salmon cured for a few days under salt, sugar and dill, sliced thin and served with a sweet mustard sauce.
What makes it gravlax
- Raw salmon, cured with salt and sugar — not smoked.
- Plenty of dill.
- Sliced thin, with sweet mustard sauce.
Where it comes from
The name means 'grave salmon'. Medieval fishermen are said to have salted salmon and buried it in the sand above the tide line, where it cured and lightly fermented. Today it takes a couple of days in the fridge under a weight.
It's on every smörgåsbord and Christmas table, sliced thin on rye or with potatoes, and the mustard-and-dill sauce — hovmästarsås in Swedish — is as much a part of it as the fish.
How it varies
- Beetroot-cured
- Grated beetroot in the cure, staining the edges magenta.
- With aquavit
- A splash in the cure, for its caraway or dill.
Be the first here
Start your own gravlaxNo one here has made gravlax yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
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