 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Gravlax" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Salmon dishes: gravlax in the middle, cold-smoked on the left and warm-smoked on the right | |
| Alternative names | Gravad lax, grav(ad)laks, gravad laks |
|---|---|
| Course | Hors d'oeuvre |
| Place of origin | Nordic countries |
| Main ingredients | salmon,salt,sugar,dill/spruce |
Gravlax (Swedish:[ˈgrɑ̂ːvlakːs]),gravlaks orgraved salmon is aNordic dish consisting ofsalmon that iscured using a mix ofsalt,sugar anddill. It is garnished withfresh dill orsprucetwigs[1][2] and may occasionally be cold-smoked afterwards. Gravlax is usually served as anappetizer, sliced thinly and accompanied by a dill and mustard sauce known ashovmästarsås (Also known in Sweden asgravlaxsås, in Norway assennepssaus, literally 'mustard sauce', in Denmark asrævesovs, literally 'fox sauce', in Iceland asgraflaxsósa, and in Finland ashovimestarinkastike, literally 'butler sauce'), either on bread or with boiled potatoes.
The wordgravlax comes from theNorthern Germanic wordgräva/grave ('to dig'; modern sense 'to cure (fish)') which goes back to theProto-Germanic*grabą,*grabō ('hole in the ground; ditch, trench; grave') and theIndo-European root*gʰrebʰ- 'to dig, to scratch, to scrape',[3] andlax/laks, 'salmon'.
During theMiddle Ages, gravlax was made by fishermen, who salted the salmon and lightlyfermented it by burying it in the sand above the high-tide line. Perhaps the oldest reference is found in 1348 inDiplomatarium Norvegicum[4] as the nickname of a man named Óláfr, who was a delegate in a salmon fishery.[5]
Fermentation is no longer used in the production process. Instead the salmon is "buried" in a dry marinade of salt, sugar, and dill, and cured for between twelve hours and a few days. As the salmon cures,osmosis moves moisture out of the fish and into the salt and sugar, turning the dry mixture into a highly concentratedbrine, which can be used in Scandinavian cooking as part of asauce.[6] This same method of curing can be employed for any fatty fish, but salmon is the most commonly used.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| Fish | |
|---|---|
| Shellfish | |
| Other seafood | |
| Processed seafood | |
| Seafood dishes | |
| Health hazards | |
| Advisory services | |
| Animal welfare | |
| Related topics | |
