View source for Gravlax

{{Short description|Nordic dish consisting of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name             = Gravlax
| image            = Laxrätter.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = Salmon dishes: gravlax in the middle, cold-smoked on the left and warm-smoked on the right
| alternate_name   = Gravad lax, grav(ad)laks, gravad laks
| country          = [[Nordic countries]]
| region           =
| creator          =
| course           = [[Hors d'oeuvre]]
| type             =
| served           =
| main_ingredient  = [[Salmon as food|salmon]], [[Edible salt|salt]], [[sugar]], [[dill]]/[[spruce]]
| variations       =
| calories         =
| other            =
}}
[[File:Gravlax med hovmästarsås.jpg|thumb|Gravlax with hovmästarsås (a mustard and dill sauce)]]

'''Gravlax''' ({{IPA|sv|ˈgrɑ̂ːvlakːs|lang}}), '''gravlaks''' or '''graved salmon''' is a [[Nordic countries|Nordic]] dish consisting of [[salmon as food|salmon]] that is [[Curing (food preservation)|cured]] using a mix of [[Edible salt|salt]], [[sugar]] and [[dill]]. It is garnished with [[dill|fresh dill]] or [[spruce]]twigs<ref>{{cite book|title=Nya stora kokboken|trans-title=New Big Cookbook|first=Karin|last=Fredrikson|publisher=Wezäta|location=[[Gothenburg]]|year=1963|page=229|lang=sv}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Bonniers kokbok|trans-title=Bonniers cookbook|lang=sv|first1=Birgit|last1=Hemberg|first2=Fredrik|last2=Eriksson|publisher=Bonnierförlagens Press|date=16 August 2005|page=267|isbn=9789100103781}}</ref> and may occasionally be cold-[[smoked]] afterwards. Gravlax is usually served as an [[appetizer]], sliced thinly and accompanied by a dill and mustard sauce known as {{Lang|sv|hovmästarsås}} (Also known in Sweden as {{Lang|sv|gravlaxsås}}, in Norway as {{Lang|no|sennepssaus}}, literally 'mustard sauce', in Denmark as {{Lang|da|rævesovs}}, literally 'fox sauce', in Iceland as {{Lang|is|graflaxsósa}}, and in Finland as {{Lang|fi|hovimestarinkastike}}, literally 'butler's sauce'), either on bread or with boiled potatoes.

==Etymology==
The word {{Lang|sv|gravlax}} comes from the [[North Germanic languages|Northern Germanic]] word {{Lang|gmq|gräva/grave}} ('to dig'; modern sense 'to cure (fish)') which goes back to the [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] {{Lang|gem-x-proto|*grabą}}, {{Lang|gem-x-proto|*grabō}} ('hole in the ground; ditch, trench; grave') and the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] root {{Lang|ine-x-proto|*gʰrebʰ-}} 'to dig, to scratch, to scrape',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/88/46.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200115/http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/88/46.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|work=[[Svenska Akademiens ordbok]] [Swedish Academy Dictionary]|title=GRAV|lang=sv}}</ref> and {{Lang|sv|lax}}''/''{{Lang|no|laks}}, 'salmon'.

==History==
During the [[Middle Ages]], gravlax was made by fishermen, who salted the salmon and lightly [[Fermentation (food)|fermented]] it by burying it in the sand above the high-tide line. Perhaps the oldest reference is found in 1348 in ''Diplomatarium Norvegicum'' <ref>{{cite web |last1=Charter 251, 25 January 1348 |title=Diplomatarium Norvegicum |url=https://www.dokpro.uio.no/cgi-bin/middelalder/diplom_vise_tekst.cgi?b=2541&s=e&str= |access-date=15 November 2024}}</ref> as the nickname of a man named Óláfr, who was a delegate in a salmon fishery.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lidén |first1=Evald |title=Äldre Nordiska Tillnamn |journal=Studier i Nordisk Filologi |date=1910 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=21-22 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b418982 |access-date=15 November 2024}}</ref>

Fermentation is no longer used in the production process. Instead the salmon is "buried" in a dry marinade of salt, sugar, and dill, and cured for between twelve hours and a few days. As the salmon cures, [[osmosis]] moves moisture out of the fish and into the salt and sugar, turning the dry mixture into a highly concentrated [[brine]], which can be used in Scandinavian cooking as part of a [[sauce]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing|first1=Michael|last1=Ruhlman|author1-link=Michael Ruhlman|first2=Brian|last2=Polcyn|first3=Yevgenity|last3=Solovyev|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|date=10 September 2013|isbn=978-0393240054|pages=51–52}}</ref> This same method of curing can be employed for any fatty fish, but salmon is the most commonly used.

==See also==
{{Portal|Food}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{annotated link|Cured fish}}
* {{annotated link|Carpaccio}}
* {{annotated link|Gwamegi}}
* {{annotated link|Hákarl}}
* {{annotated link|List of hors d'oeuvre}}
* {{annotated link|List of raw fish dishes}}
* {{annotated link|Lox}}
* {{annotated link|Rakfisk}}
* {{annotated link|Sashimi}}
* {{annotated link|Surströmming}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Cookbook}}
{{Commons category|Gravad lax}}

{{Salmon dishes}}
{{salmon}}
{{seafood}}

[[Category:Danish cuisine]]
[[Category:Finnish cuisine]]
[[Category:Icelandic cuisine]]
[[Category:Norwegian cuisine]]
[[Category:Salmon dishes]]
[[Category:Swedish cuisine]]
[[Category:Swedish words and phrases]]
[[Category:Appetizers]]