Caxton magazines staff“I don’t want to think that someone has been fiddling with the food on my plate for three hours,” says Inge Watrobski of Kassia & Figg (021 788 3337), a bakery and coffee shop. Instead she believes cooking should be informal and fun. Here are her recipes for a scrumptious brunch
INGREDIENTS
For the gravadlax:
- 2,5–4kg whole salmon or salmon trout, filleted (allow around 70g per person)
- 1 cup caster sugar
- ½ cup sea salt (the crystal type)
- 2T freshly ground black pepper
- several handfuls of fresh dill fronds, finely chopped
For the vinaigrette:
- IT honey
- 1¼ cups sunflower oil
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 1t English mustard powder or 1½t Dijon mustard
- 1t (or less) cayenne pepper
- 1t (or less) paprika
- fresh Maldon salt
- freshly ground pepper
- plenty of fresh herbs (lemon thyme, parsley, chives, basil)
To serve:
- molasses seed loaves
- avocados, sliced
- pomegranates (optional)
- lemony crème fraîche
METHOD
To make the gravadlax:
1. Mix all the ingredients, other than the salmon, together to make a marinade.
2. Lay about 1,5m foil or cling film down on your counter top. Leaving a decent margin around the edges, spread roughly a quarter of your marinade on one half of the foil, leaving an equal length piece to fold back over. Lay half the fish, skin down, on the marinade, and spread half of the marinade on top. Add the rest of the pieces of fish, flesh to flesh with the skin facing up this time. Spread the last quarter of the marinade on top and wrap the fish up securely, folding the edges over twice to avoid leaking.
3. Place the whole parcel on a tray weighted down with another tray. A heavy chopping board works quite well. Keep refrigerated. Turn the parcel over once a day for five or six days, trying to spill as little of the liquid as possible.
To make the vinaigrette:
1. Blitz all the ingredients in a blender.
2. Place in a clean bottle and refrigerate until needed.
To serve:
1. Unwrap your cured salmon and wipe off the excess marinade.
2. Serve the gravadlax on slices of molasses seed loaf, topped with sliced avo and pomegranate seeds. Add a dollop of lemony crème fraîche and a drizzle of the garlic, orange and honey vinaigrette.
Cook’s tip: This recipe makes a large amount so it’s only worth making for parties, but like smoked salmon, gravadlax can be kept in the refrigerator for up to five days.The vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.
This recipe serves 12 – 24.
