Homemade Gravadlax and White Pinotage

Weeks ago, a friend’s art exhibition took us to the charming Boland town of Wellington and the Breytenbach Art gallery. A beautiful sunny winters day turned into a day of discovery and reconnecting.  The Breytenbach Centre hosts an interesting collection of shops, galleries and a theatre venue.

The Centre was formerly the house where Breyten Breytenbach spent his teenage years. Breyten Breytenbach was born in the town of Bonnievale. At the time, our house belonged to his uncle Nick Olivier. We purchased the property from 'Oom Nick' in 1991.

The Centre houses a bookshop that is a treasure trove of Africana and other amazing books. I could not resist exploring the shelves. Although there were many books I wanted to buy, I resisted temptation. In the end I was happy to leave knowing that at least I had discovered a new bookshop.

The Centre hosts a wine gallery as well. It is marketed as a wine and brands gallery, specialising in liquid art and the art of wine. I am always curious to explore new concepts. I soon realised that wine labels have become an art form with elaborately designed shrink sleeve labels. One wine attracted my attention. It was a White Pinotage. I had had a White Merlot before but could not resist acquiring some of the White Pinotage. I planned to serve it on a bright spring day with something new and special from the Towerwater kitchen.

We recently discovered a new source of fresh fish located in the neighbourhood where Keith grew up. With Keith enjoying a very active retirement restoring his family home, it was inevitable that we would explore the neigbourhood. We discovered a neigbourhood that has changed but with many previous neighbours or their descendants welcoming him back and reconnecting. It all seems so familiar in a strange way.

While Keith is immersing himself in restoring and renovating his family home, I am discovering new sources of culinary finds. I just love to have access to good quality fish. Fish as in Norwegian salmon, tuna, swordfish, hake and any other special catch of the day.

I have become a frequent visitor in Vredehoek. I am finding reasons to buy fish and discover new ways for its preparation. I even ventured to make my own Gravadlax. The preceding warm week had prompted me to prepare a homemade Gravadlax to serve for a lunch at Towerwater.

I bought the fresh Norwegian salmon steaks and proceeded to cure them for 48 hours. This would ensure that the Gravadlax would be ready to serve on the lawn with a bottle of chilled white pinotage. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. A cold front brought much needed rain to Bonnievale on the Sunday.

The weather could not stop me from having the lunch that I had planned for three days. I looked forward to the lunch of homemade Gravadlax and White Pinotage. It did not disappoint. We enjoyed the homemade Gravadlax on freshly baked bread in a cosy dining room, watching the rain through the windows.

I am happy to add two new items to our summer menu at Towerwater. The fun part of making one’s own Gravadlax is that it is so easy. In addition, one can experiment with the flavours.

Homemade Gravadlax

Using: 2 x 500g pieces skin-on deboned salmon fillets, both cut from the centre of the fish.

Ingredients for the cure:

175g flaky sea salt
100g golden demerara sugar
75g white sugar
1 tsp milled black peppercorns
zest of 1 lemon
a bunch of dill, finely chopped
2 tbsp gin

To serve:
Lemon slices
Dijon mustard sauce
small bunch (about 20g) dill, finely chopped
Rye bread
Crème Fraiche

Method

Pat the salmon dry with kitchen paper. Remove any stray small bones. If there are, use a pair of tweezers to pull them out. Set the salmon fillets aside.

Mix the salt, sugar, peppercorns, lemon zest, and chopped dill. Take a piece of cling wrap. Lay the first fillet of salmon skin-side down, brush each fillet with gin and then pack the cure over the flesh. Place the 2nd fillet, flesh-side down. Roll the fillets in cling film to create a package but leave the sides open to allow the moisture to drain.

Place the fish in a shallow baking dish and place a brick or similar weight, wrapped in cling wrap on top of the fish. Place in the fridge for at least 48 hours, turning the fish over every 12 hours or so. The longer you leave it, the more cured it will be.

To serve, unwrap the fish and rinse off the marinade and dry with kitchen paper. Brush the fillets with Dijon mustard and chopped dill. Put back in fridge for 3 – 12 hours before serving. Use a sharp knife and slice your fish at an angle into long thin slices, leaving the skin behind. Serve the sliced fish on a large platter or individual plates with rye bread, Crème Fraiche and lemon slices.