January 21, 2007
fishy, fishy in the sea
Call me a purist, but I recoil in horror whenever I’m offered anything to dress an oyster. Few things are so perfect and precious as oysters are and to add anything to a quality oyster is just plain wrong, people. As for mediocre oysters, I say why bother?
It has generally thus been with me and salmon. I know that the world is divided into salmon lovers and salmon haters (well, maybe it’s a bit more complicated than people who love or hate a fish, but humor me for a minute here). I’ve always been a fan of the fish for its sheer ability to transform a bagel from ordinary into a feast. But I’ve always felt that lox has unfairly claimed center stage to its less known, but tastier cousin – gravlax.
Nothing more illustrious than just salt-cured fish, gravlax possesses the kind of pure, clean taste a fresh oyster does. It’s delicate to the palate, unmistakably raw, caressed by a blend of sea salt and dill. Put that on a bagel and you have an exotic, celebratory breakfast. And on poached eggs with hollandaise, it’s simply breathtaking.
And the best part of all – making it is a cinch. A third-grader could do it. Someone who’ve never cooked, never mind never cooked fish could do it. All you need is a little bit of patience, for gravlax is a thing of a few days in the making, and a few ingredients.
I must admit though that while I thought my gravlax was redefining sublime, the BF tried it with trepidation, worrying that the fishy might have gone bad and I was en route to giving us both food poisoning. Thus, after having a few pieces, unable to consume a pound or raw, salt-cured fish, the whole issue was put to rest, and then eventually, to trash. Still, had I been home more to consume food, and not stuck in the office (can you see how I haven’t posted in ages?) eating take-out dinners, this salmon wouldn’t have met its maker via the trash bin route.
Ingredients:
1 lb of raw, fresh salmon
½ bunch of chopped dill
½ cup sea salt
a few cracked peppercorns
Method:
Spread a mixture of salt, dill and peppercorns over salmon. Roll the salmon until it’s a tight roll and tie it with string. Wrap this in plastic wrap a few times and place the result under a heavy weight in the refrigerator (I just placed inside a fruit drawer that was full of beer). Unwrap and delight in three days. The fish should taste raw and salty. You may want to clean it off its spice mix first though – unless you prefer it with.
Comments
Thanks - well from one Russkie to the other, spasibo! Perhaps some day you'll become interested in cooking fish. Or not. You make such amazing things - I doubt your cooking skills would suffer. As for the lens, I finally got it this past weekend at J&R - who would have thought this thing would've been sold out all throughout the city?? New, better pictures coming as soon as I get my card reader to the BF's apt or just buy a double for his place.
I am unfortunately a little grossed out by raw fish, though I'm trying to work myself up to the flavor (I am a lacto-ovo pescetarian...errr, vegetarian who eats fish). I wish I could bring myself to make this. I get really worried about fish going bad, especially since I never deal with raw meat...
Alex says this is the way his grandmother used to make it, which I suppose is as big of an approval as one can get from a Russkie. I just, ugh, I'm too ick-ed by fish and suspect I'll never make it myself. Which is a shame, of course. Gorgeous picture -- is that the new lens?