Gravlax Is Easy To Make, and Will Impress Your Guests

Salt, sugar, white peppercorns, and dill are all that’s needed to make the divine Scandinavian cured salmon dish known as gravlax.

When I was in my twenties, I lived with a woman named Erika Worm (it’s pronounced vorm) who showed me the way around a professional kitchen. We lived in her family’s big house on a lake, and Erika cooked as if she were made for the task. As a result of her mom’s catering spell, not only was she blessed with the skills to rival a Top Chef, we had the run of a two-Viking-range kitchen with all the bells and whistles. I would watch her make dish after dish, probing her with questions about temperature, taste, and plating. Later in life, when I was the master of my own kitchen (read nonprofessional), I would try to replicate her dishes. One dish that stood out — one that did not even involve any cooking — was her recipe for gravlax.

Gravlax, slices of salt and sugar–cured salmon that have lightly soaked up the essence of fresh dill, is actually quite easy to make, and I remembered this distinctly. I think Erika called it a no-brainer that looks really impressive on the buffet table. All one needs to do is obtain a fresh piece of salmon, preferably one with the skin still on, and with a close-to-uniform thickness (the center cut works best), rub it with the cure, cover it with fresh dill, and let it sit for a day. How’s that for a no-brainer? I can already hear the wheels spinning in your head. You’re asking yourself where you can buy the freshest piece of salmon because you want to make this for your New Year’s Day brunch.


After you blanket the salmon with the salt and sugar cure, cover it with bunches of fresh dill.


Slicing the gravlax once it’s cured is really the only tricky part. Just make sure you have a thin-bladed and extremely sharp knife at the ready. Have some chilled champagne ready, as you will want to serve your beautiful creation with some bubbly. We recently enjoyed some gravalax with a passion fruit bellini made with thawed passion fruit (maracuja in Portuguese or lilikoi in Hawaiian) puree we always get from a Brazilian shop on 46th Street in Manhattan called Buzios. It also comes in a bottle. You can probably get it at a specialty market that stocks ethnic foods, but if not, you may have to ask your grocer to stock it.


Gravlax with Mustard Dill Sauce
(inspired by recipes by Erika Worm, Marcus Samuelsson, and Ina Garten)

Gravlax

Ingredients
1 1/2 – 2 pounds salmon fillet (skin on, thick center cut)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups salt
2 tablespoons white peppercorns, coarsely ground (use less if you only have black peppercorns)
2 bunches fresh dill (reserve a handful for the sauce)
optional ground spices (such as cumin, caraway, coriander, aniseed, dill seed, juniper berries), in any combination and amount (this is not necessary, and is only suggested if you like to experiment)

Method
In a bowl, mix the sugar, salt, and peppercorns (and any other spices if you are using them). Place the salmon in a glass dish and remove any pin bones. You can locate them by running your fingers over the flesh where the natural separation occurs. Remove with your fingers or a pair of clean bottlenose pliers. Scoop up some of the mixture with your hand and rub all over the salmon, skin included. Place the salmon in a glass dish, and cover with the remainder of the mixture. Then, cover the salmon with the dill so that you don’s see any of the salmon. Press down gently. Let stand at room temperature for 5 hours, 6 maximum. Cover, and refrigerate for about 24–48 hours, the thicker the salmon, the longer the curing time.

Remove the gravlax from the dish (it will be swimming in all the liquid the salt cure has leached from it, and it should smell slightly metallic and briny underneath the dill). Discard the dill, and quickly rinse the gravlax under cold water until the mixture has been washed away. Do not saturate the gravlax. Place the gravlax on a cutting board and with a sharp knife cut thin slices across the grain.

Serve with mustard dill sauce and slices of bagel, or brown bread, or crisp rye bread. Sides of capers, sliced red onion, and lettuce leaves will be appreciated as well. Best eaten within 4 days.

Mustard Dill Sauce (aka hovmästarsås or gravlaxsås)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon honey mustard
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup oil, such as grapeseed or other neutral-tasting oil
salt and white pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

Method
In a bowl, or preferably a standing mixer, add all the ingredients except the oil. While mixing vigorously or with the mixer on high, slowly drizzle the oil in steadily. Mix until it thickens.

Passion Fruit Bellini
Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon passion fruit puree
1/2 teaspoon simple syrup*
3–4 ounces champagne, prosecco, or any sparkling wine

Method
In a champagne flute, add the passion fruit puree and the simple syrup. Top with chilled champagne.

* In a sauce pan over low heat, dissolve 1 cup sugar in 1 cup water, stirring occasionally until all crystals have dissolved. Let cool and transfer to a clean, airtight container. May be kept in refrigerator for up to a month.

Text by Paul Zablocki
Photos by Steve Schul and Paul Zablocki

We Found These Amazing Cocktails on Maui and Bring You the Recipes

The Na Ka Oi Cocktail and the Rain Tree Elixir will wow you with their tropical flavors.

Finding a restaurant on Maui with both creative food and a decent cocktail program can be challenging, but we found such a place in Wailea called Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman, or simply Monkeypod. We dined al fresco, which in Hawaii is practically de rigueur, and were waited on by the expert server Nicole, who made our experience there one of the best we’ve ever had while visiting the fiftieth state.

Steve started out the evening with a Ho‘opono Potion, a bewitching brew of tequila and lime juice mixed with a little Aperol (a bittersweet neon orange aperitif made with bitter oranges and rhubarb, among other botanicals). It paired beautifully with his Hawaiian version of a traditional beet salad (sweet Maui onion, arugula, crispy bacon, chevre, orange ginger dressing), the citrus bringing out all the potent flavors in the tequila, the cucumber taming the light heat.

Paul craved an American whiskey drink, so the Makawao Ave. cocktail, a sort of whiskey sour/old-fashioned hybrid, but with ginger liqueur, fit the bill nicely. It was a perfect partner with the slight bitterness of a simply dressed kale and citrus salad.

We asked for the recipe for the No‘opono Potion, which the lovely Nicole happily wrote down, and while we ate our Pumpkin Patch Ravioli and Fish Tacos, the man who created the drinks, Jason Vendrell, introduced himself. Jason, Monkeypod’s sommelier and beverage manager, explained to us that the owner requested an excellent cocktail program, and the drinks we had before us were the fruits of his labor. He later surprised us with two tiki-inspired cocktails: The fruitjuicy Rain Tree Elixir, made with an açai spirit, coconut water, and kaffir lime leaves, put an instant smile on Steve’s sun-kissed face; the silky smooth No Ka Oi (which means The Best) won Paul’s heart with its explosion of passion fruit and thai basil flavors. Jason told us that he would not be insulted if we didn’t finish the drinks, but who was he kidding? We kept sipping and passing them back and forth, and the only reason we stopped was our rental car’s need for sobriety.

The next night, as we searched for other places to get a cocktail, we decided to return to Monkeypod to try Jason’s famous Monkeypod Mai Tai. A beauty to behold, this rum classic is topped with a lip-smacking honey–lilikoi (passion fruit) foam enhaloed by a ring of golden pineapple. As the bartender prepared the whipped cream gun, fellow imbibers who sat at the bar all watched in admiration as the froth filled the top of the glass. Mahalo Jason for your recipes.

You can re-create these recipes at home. Don’t let the tropical ingredients daunt you. In this day and age, most towns have an Asian or Latin market with fresh or frozen produce, and if that’s not the case, an order from an Internet store can be delivered to you sometimes quicker than it takes to get from Brooklyn to Maui.

Ho‘opono Potion
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Sauza tequila
1/2 ounce Aperol
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
fresh cucumber
lemon wedge, as garnish

Method
In a shaker, muddle a slice of cucumber. Fill with ice and add tequila, Aperol, lime juice, and simple syrup. Shake and strain into an chilled cocktail glass. Add lemon wedge.

Rain Tree Elixir
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces VeeV Açai Spirit
1 1/2 ounces coconut water
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3 kaffir lime leaves

Method
Muddle kaffir with lime and simple. Add coconut water and VeeV with ice, shake and pour into highball.

Makawao Ave.
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Makers Mark bourbon
1/2 ounce housemade ginger syrup
2 squeezed lemon wedges
3 dashes Angostura bitters
soda
lemon twist, as garnish

Method
Add bitters, syrup, lemon and bourbon to mixing glass with ice. Shake and pour into a highball glass. Top with soda. Add twist.

No Ka Oi
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Ocean Vodka
1 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce honey-lilikoi foam*
5 muddled thai basil leaves
thai basil leaf, as garnish

Method
Muddle thai basil with lime juice. Add all other ingredients with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with thai basil leaf.



Monkeypod Mai Tai
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 ounce Old Lahaina Light Rum
1 ounce Maui Dark Rum
1/2 ounce orgeat syrup
1/2 ounce Dekuyper Orange Curaçao
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
honey–lilikoi foam*
pineapple wheel, as garnish

Method
Add lime, orgeat, orange curaçao and light rum to a mixing glass with ice. Shake and strain over ice into a highball glass. Float dark rum on top. Place pineapple wheel against the side of the glass so it sticks out. Top with foam from whipped cream gun. [SEE PHOTO ABOVE.]

*Honey–Lilikoi Foam
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)
2 parts liliko‘i (passion fruit) puree
2 parts simple syrup
2 parts egg whites
1 part honey
4 parts cold water

photos (taken on an iPhone 4) © Steve Schul

Louis Royer “Force 53” Cognac Makes Its Mark in NYC

A bee, symbolizing the natural world, is the perfect logo for Louis Royer Cognac. For M Royer, it was a symbol of “diligence, an efficient and lively organization, and regional and craftsman work.” We like bees as well.

Last week we were invited to a Cognac tasting at New York City’s Daniel, the Michelin three-star restaurant led by the esteemed chef Daniel Boulud. Master Selector Jérôme Royer and Master Blender Laurent Robin from the award-winning Louis Royer Cognac distillers flew in from Jarnac, France, to regale 75 of us with the history of the Louis Royer company. They also offered us tastings of three Louis Royer cognac expressions, including its latest, “Force 53º,” a high-proof cognac developed especially for the American market, and a total of nine different Force 53º cocktails, created by local bar chefs.

It was our first time at Daniel, and the mood was decidedly festive. Four different cocktail stations were set up in the front dining rooms as mixologists whipped up their creations and waiters passed by with tiny bites of fish and other tasty hors d’oeuvres. Barman Jason Littrell, who was standing in for an absent mixologist Jonathan Pogash (he was busy becoming a new dad—congrats, Jonathan!), offered us each a Commes les Français, a champagne and Force 53º cocktail, mixed with a little Combier Liqueur d’Orange, Lillet blanc, and passion fruit juice, and a rinse of pastis. A lot of ingredients? Yes. But bewitching, indeed. It was the perfect way to start the evening. After about a half hour of sipping and chit-chat (Paul met the lovely Eleanor West from Food Republic, the brainchild Web site from chef Marcus Samuelsson, that caters to men’s taste), we were ushered into the private dining room where we parked ourselves at a table with some of the most delightful ladies on the planet: Jen Pelka, managing Editor of Gilt Taste, and Whitney Chen, also of Gilt Taste, and a current Food Network Food Star finalist.


Four of the nine or so “Force 53” cocktails. This photo reminds us of an old-school paper cocktail menu. Bottoms up!

A collective insobriety hung over the event once we were seated and the gentlemen from Louis Royer began their chats. Jérôme Royer, a fifth-generation distiller, charmed us as he gushed about the family business. “My blood is cognac,” he added before guiding us through tasting his VSOP Preférence and XO expressions, along with the Force 53º. All were incredibly smooth (water had been added to each to open them up), and elicited aahs throughout the room. We could tell right away that the Force 53º would be an excellent base for cocktail creations, and the bar chefs on hand crafted some beautifully redolent and tasty concoctions. Hands down our favorite offering by Jonathan Pogash was his Spice Is Nice, a rocks drink made with Force 53º, Cinnamon Syrup (courtesy of Trader Tiki), some ginger syrup, and some lime juice. What made the drink so special was not its first few sips (which had us hooked), but the garnish: a lime wheel dusted with cayenne that lay perched above the drink. When tipped, the cayenne added a new layer that was surprisingly tasty, without being too spicy.


Three Expressions of Louis Royer Cognac (from left: VSOP Préférence, VSOP “Force 53,” and XO).

As sipping continued, we discovered that Whitney used to be a total science geek (a lot of chefs have admitted to being science geeks—cooking has a definite geek factor that appeals to us); and also that Jen used to be a chef at Daniel. After more getting to know each other and four new cocktails to try, she offered us a dip into the kitchen. We quickly followed her into the heart of Daniel. To behold the hive-like activity that awaited us behind the doors was exciting and entertaining. If you would indulge us with an oxymoron here, a bustling calm canopied the chefs as their hands and tools worked in harmony to make click-clacks on the wood and stainless, and the penetrating gaze of their eyes focused on the final touches of the courses they prepared. The celadon glow of the tiles that line the walls perhaps added to this mood.

Thanks to Hanna Lee from Hanna Lee Communications for the invitation. She brought together formidable talent from all over the world to a magical place in the heart of the great City of New York.

Commes les Français
(created by Jonathan Pogash)

Ingredients
1 ounce Louis Royer “Force 53” cognac
1/2 ounce Combier orange liqueur
1/2 ounce Lillet blanc
1/2 ounce Boiron passion fruit juice
rinse of pastis
2 ounces champagne
lemon peel, as garnish.

Method
Add ingredients to mixing glass with ice and gently fold. Strain into chilled champagne flute that has been rinsed with pastis, and top off with extra champagne. Add lemon peel garnish.

Spice Is Nice
(created by Jonathan Pogash)

Ingredients
2 ounces Louis Royer “Force 53” cognac
1/2 ounce Trader Tiki Cinnamon Syrup
1/2 ounce ginger syrup (from the Ginger People)
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
lime wheel dusted in cayenne pepper, as garnish

Method
Shake ingredients well in ice and strain into an ice-filled old fashioned glass. Add garnish.


Waiters and Chefs, at Daniel, NYC.


Pastry Chef, at Daniel, NYC.


The Kitchen at Daniel, NYC.

All photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz