Gravad Lax

Homemade gravlax!  As per the classic Scandinavian cookbook.

Recipe

1 lb salmon, cut into two fillets
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp crushed peppercorns
1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

Mix the salt, sugar, and pepper.  Lay the salmon out on a big piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.  Top with dill and sprinkle generously with salt mixture.  Put one fillet on top of the other and wrap up securely.  (You might also want to put it in a plastic bag in case moisture leaks out.)  Place on a dish and weigh it down, for instance with a few cans of food.  Refrigerate for at least 48 hours, turning it a few times.  Once it's done, unwrap, scrape off the seasonings, slice thinly and serve!

The cookbook recommends "gravlaxsas" (sound it out!) as an accompaniment - essentially a mustard vinaigrette with more salt, sugar and dill.

Notes

A week-plus since by first trials of this (non-)cooking concept, and all test subjects (i.e., me) seem to have suffered no ill effects...  A bit of a relief, since I convinced myself in the meantime that it was a mistake to trust the Lake Placid Price Chopper's seafood counter, and my salmon had to sit in the car for the ride back plus another errand or two...  Maybe next time I'll make sure to hit a more upscale grocer and specify "sushi-grade"...

In any case, I used two six-ounce skinless fillets.  Rather than just season the top and press together, I made sure all sides were well-coated in salt mixture and dill.

I also did some outside research to make sure copy editors didn't leave out an important step like "cook for 30 minutes"...  There were actually some similar, more modern recipes online that are essentially the same in concept but explore variations in the ratio of salt to sugar or other seasonings like coriander, caraway, or fennel seed, or citrus zest, or aquavit.  But the key takeaway was that, yes, you can make your own gravlax for not-too-expensive!  (Pictures of what it should look like also helped reassure me.)  So full speed ahead with taste tests.

The results: it was really, really good.  The smooth salmon taste, with a healthy dose of salt and pepper.  So good.