Gravlax
Gravlax, gravlaks or graved salmon is a Nordic dish consisting of salmon that is cured using a mix of salt, sugar and dill. It is garnished with fresh dill or spruce twigs and may occasionally be cold-smoked after it is cured. Gravlax is usually served as an appetizer, sliced thinly and accompanied by a dill and mustard sauce known as hovmästarsås, either on bread or with boiled potatoes.
Etymology
The word gravlax comes from the Northern Germanic word gräva/grave which goes back to the Proto-Germanic *grabą, *grabō and the Indo-European root *gʰrebʰ- 'to dig, to scratch, to scrape', and lax/laks, 'salmon'.History
During the Middle Ages, gravlax was made by fishermen, who salted the salmon and lightly fermented it by burying it in the sand above the high-tide line. Perhaps the oldest reference is found in 1348 in Diplomatarium Norvegicum as the nickname of a man named Óláfr, who was a delegate in a salmon fishery.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 concentrated brine, which can be used in Scandinavian cooking as part of a sauce. This same method of curing can be employed for any fatty fish, but salmon is the most commonly used.