Servings: 10 Portions

Ingredients

1 Kg  piece of Salmon boned

100 g Demerara sugar

100 g Coarse Sea Salt 

1 tsp Black Peppercorns 

Zest of 2 Lemons

3 Tbls Aquavit or Vodka

A Generous bunch of Dill 

5 cm piece Fresh Horseradish root peeled & grated

200 g Fresh Beetroot peeled & grated 

Mustard Sauce

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

1-11/2 tsp Honey

1 tsp White Wine Vinegar

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1 Egg Yolk

150 ml Sunflower Oil

2 Tbls Finely Chopped Dill

Salt & Pepper

HOW TO 

Check the salmon for any bones, keeping an eye open for the tiny, almost invisible pin bones. These can be removed with tweezers. Lay the salmon skin-side down on a stainless steel enamel tin or glass dish.

Put the demerara sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Roughly grind the peppercorns and add the sugar and the vodka of aquavit. Roughly chop the dill and stems, and add to the marinade. Add to the sugar mixture along with the grated beetroot, horseradish and lemon zest, then stir into the other ingredients.

Spread the mixture over the fish and rub in well with your hands. Wrap a piece of clingfilm over the fish and place a heavy weight on top. (A small chopping board with a few cans on top will work.) Refrigerate for between 24-48 hours.

For the mustard sauce place the mustard, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and egg yolk in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the oil drop by drop to begin with; continue adding in a steady stream, until the sauce becomes thick and smooth, whisking constantly. Stir in the dill and season to taste.

Pour off and discard any liquid that has seeped from the marinade. Remove the cling film and scrape away the marinade. Lightly rinse with water if necessary..Slice the fish thinly, as you would smoked salmon, and serve with the mustard sauce.

Notes

Freeze the salmon for 24 hours and defrost before curing.

  Talented food blogger, recipe creator and food photograpfer Louise from Nordic Kitchen Stories lent us this amazing recipe for Beetroot and Horseradish Gravlax.