From Chef Emma Bengtsson

A Note from the Chef

Chef Emma Bengtsson’s signature dish, gravlax with hovmästar, is a Nordic dish consisting of cured salmon and sauce. While Chef Bengtsson’s favorite type of salmon comes from northern Norway, where some fish swim in lakes under the Aurora Borealis, she assures us any type of salmon will make a delicious dish.

Gravlax Ingredients:

• 1 pound skinned/trimmed salmon
• 6 twigs of dill stems
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cups of salt
• 1 pinch white pepper

Instructions:

1. Skin the salmon if you received it with skin on.
2. Remove the dill from the stems and set aside for the sauce.
3. Use a dull knife to cut and crush the dill stems. We want the stems to bruise.
4. Mix the sugar, salt, dill and white pepper together. 
5. Place the salmon in an airtight container. Cover salmon in the mixture and really rub it in. Place the container in the fridge.
6. The next day take it out and flip it over. For one minute, rub the salmon with the sugar and salt mixture. Repeat the next day. The salmon may take 2-3 days to be ready, depending on its thickness.
7. To tell when the salmon is ready, press down lightly on the thickest part. It should feel like it’s firm and not soft in the middle, almost like a cake.
8. When ready, remove and rinse in cold water to get everything off and stop the curing.
9. From here you can slice the salmon and eat right away, store in the fridge for a week to 10 days, or you can choose to freeze it.
    

Hovmästar Sauce Ingredients

• 6 twigs of dill
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 7 teaspoons whole grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon espresso (cold, not fresh)
• 1 lemon
• 1 1/4 cup canola or peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Start by chopping up and crushing the dill that you saved from the curing mix.
2. If you have a stand mixer, place the dill in the bowl with the sugar. Let it whisk on high speed for 5-8 minutes. If you are mixing by hand, place the dill and the sugar on the cutting board and keep chopping the two of them together for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the dill, sugar, mustard, honey, and espresso to a bowl. Secure the bowl so it is steady or have someone hold it. Start slowly to feed in the oil under constant whisking.
4. Halfway through, add the lemon juice. It will help prevent the emulsion from breaking.
5. Add the rest of the oil and season with salt.
6. Store in fridge until salmon is ready. Then drizzle sauce over fish.