Gravlax

Method

1. Run your fingers along the 180 g of salmon fillet and pull out any pin bones with tweezers. Pat the flesh completely dry with kitchen paper and leave the skin on — it holds the fillet together while it cures and gives you something to slice against.
2. Mix 15 g of coarse sea salt, 12 g of caster sugar and 0.25 tsp of coarsely crushed white pepper in a small bowl. Roughly chop 15 g of dill, stalks included — the stalks carry most of the flavour.
3. Scatter half the dill over the base of a small non-reactive dish that just fits the fish. Lay the salmon on it skin-side down, rub the flesh with 1 tsp of aquavit, then pack the salt-sugar cure evenly over the whole surface and top with the remaining dill.
4. Cover tightly with clingfilm, press a small plate and a tin on top to weight it, and refrigerate for 48 hours. Every 12 hours, turn the fillet over and spoon the brine that collects back over it. The flesh is ready when it has firmed up and turned deeper orange and translucent right through.