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Graavilohi

Source of Recipe

Norway


List of Ingredients

One 2 1/2- to 3-pound salmon fillet, skin on, and pin boned
1 1/2 tablespoons salt, plus more if needed
2 1/4 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons cognac, plus more if needed
Fresh dill sprigs, about 1 cup packed


Special equipment
A glass, enamel, or other non-reactive baking dish to hold the salmon (about 10 inches long); plastic wrap; a plate or cutting board, and 5 pounds to weight it (such as canned goods)






Recipe


Curing the fillet
Trim the salmon fillet, cutting away any thin, uneven edges and the thin end of the tail.
Cut the fillet in half crosswise, so you have 2 pieces of the same length and about the same width, and lay them skin down on the work surface.
Stir the salt and sugar together in a small bowl. Sprinkle half the mix over each fillet and rub in it with your fingers. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of cognac over each piece and rub in. Spread the dill sprigs over on fillet,
then set it in the baking dish. Lay the other fillet on top, align the sides
neatly, and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap [photos in cookbook].
Lay a pan or board on top of the fish (be sure it isn’t resting on the rim of the dish), weight the top with cans or other heavy objects to compress
the fillets, and place in the refrigerator. After one day of curing, remove the weights and top tray, and turn the fish over (so the top fillets is on the bottom), baste with the liquid that has accumulated in the dish, and
replace the weights. Turn and baste after the second day, and slice off a sliver of the salmon. Taste, and sprinkle more salt or cognac on the flesh if needed. Cure for another day, turn, and baste once more. After the
fourth full day, the cure will be complete and you can serve the graavilohi

Slicing the graavilohi Clean the dill from the flesh of one fillet and wipe dry with paper towels.
With a long thin-bladed slicing knife, held at a very flat angle, start slicing a few inches from the narrow end of the fillet. Cut with a back-and-forth
sawing motion, toward the narrow end, to remove a thin slice of fish. Start each succeeding slice a but farther in from the end of the fillet; always cut
at a flat angle, to keep the slices long and as thin as possible. When the blade reaches the skin, shave the slice off – don’t cut through the skin.
You may trim away and discard the dark flesh that was next to the skin.
The Norwegians leave it on.
After cutting as many slices as you wish to serve, fold the attached flap of skin over the remaining fish and wrap well in plastic. The graavilohi can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week.