SC - gravlax

[Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir]

Adamantius wrote:

>I vaguely recall reading somewhere (was it Elisabeth Luard, Stefan?)
>that the concept of fermenting/pickling/curing fish is extremely old,
>and probably well-known to the Vikings. I'll have to dredge up the
>details, but the method discussed appears to have included evergreen
>branches as a wrapper for structural support and drainage, with the
>package being buried in the sand above the high tide line. The dill and
>the sugar, and perhaps in some cases even the salt (not to mention the
>optional hooch) appear to have been later additions. Again, I only
>vaguely recall this, but I could swear it was claimed that the
>difference between dishes like gravlax and things like haakarl
>(Greenland shark cured until reaching a texture and flavor similar to
>Brie) was the type of fish used, and the degree of fermentation.


That would be some very mature Brie. Ideally, you should need a large sip of
Black Death (Icelandic vodka-type drink) to keep the hákarl down. Although
in recent years I´ve had some that only required a sip of water. There is
also the very potent fermented skate traditionally eaten on St. Thorlak´s
Day (Dec 23rd); it is often the job of the man of the house to cook it and
they are frequently exiled to the garage because of the smell. I always keep
open house on St. Thorlak´s day for desperate fugitives from skate-eating
feasts, since it happens to be one of the few foods I don´t like).

Anyway, I don´t recall any mentions of gravlax in the Sagas but fermented
fish has always been quite common in Iceland. The oldest descriptions I can
recall of anything gravlax-like are from the 19th century. But it was an old
practice here to keep salmon and other fish for a few days wrapped in common
chickweed (Stellaria media); this was not, AFAIK, done to improve the taste,
but the fish was said to keep better this way.

Nanna