Gravlax spice blend

When to use your gravlax mix ?

Explore Terre Exotique’s take on this famous Scandinavian mix

This gravlax mix was created by our team to make your gravlax marinades super easy. The Timur berry added to this mix is our very own touch which gives a tangy burst to your dishes.

How to get the best from your gravlax mix?

Our recipe ideas for this gravlax mix:

·        Salmon gravlax: discover our Salmon gravlax Terre Exotique recipe;

·        Barbeque cod: marinate your fillets of cod in 2 tablespoons of gravlax mix for a few hours before grilling your fish on the barbeque;

·        Brunch smoked salmon toast: spread some cream cheese on toast, add some smoked salmon and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of gravlax mix;

·        Fish stock: add a tablespoon of this gravlax mix to your fish stock;

·        Dips: sprinkle 2 teaspoons of gravlax mix into Greek yoghurt or cream cheese;

·        Lamb gravlax: rub your lamb with this gravlax mix and leave to marinate overnight, or for at least 8 hours before cooking.

Salmon gravlax recipe

Ingredients

1 fillet of salmon (about 1 kg);

160g Terre Exotique gravlax mix.

Method

Remove any bones and dry your fillet of salmon with kitchen roll. Rub the fish with the gravlax mix.

Put a few spoons of the mix in a ziplock bag then add the salmon, cover with the rest of the mix then close the ziplock bag. Make sure the bag is placed flat to ensure the fish is covered in the gravlax mix then weigh it down by putting a plate on top.

Leave to marinate in the fridge for 24 hours then cut your salmon into thin slices.

Serve with pre-dinner drinks or as a starter on blinis with cream cheese and finish off with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Our tip: You can really use any type of fish with gravlax – let loose your imagination and surprise your guests!

The aromas of this gravlax mix

The dill in this mix releases herby scents whilst the Timur berry gives it acidic notes with a subtle underlying aroma of pine resin due to the pink berry. This mix will provide your palate with a burst of sweet and gentle flavours. The Timur berry brings hints of citrus fruit with notes of grapefruit to enhance your salmon gravlax, that’s our very own Terre Exotique touch!

The traditional gravlax mix with Terre Exotique’s touch 

The ingredients of this gravlax mix

This mix is made from sugar, salt, dill, Madagascar black pepper, Timur berry and pink berry.

The sugar used in this gravlax mix is our brown cane sugar from La Réunion. This sugar comes from partially refined sugar cane and contains 5% of molasses, which is what gives it its blonde colour and its subtle vanilla scent. After the sugar cane is harvested it is crushed to extract the juice. The juice is then heated so that the water evaporates, the sugar concentrates and crystallizes.

The salt used in this mix is Himalayan pink diamond salt from Pakistan which comes from the Khewra salt mines, at the heart of Himalayas. This jewelled salt gets is delicate pink colour from its iron content. It is extremely pure, dry and non-iodized and is rich in minerals and trace elements. These fossilized crystals of sea salt, commonly known as rock salt, mineral salt, or earth salt, are unpolluted, additive-free, and unrefined. Consequently, the body can assimilate 100% of it. These mines are nowhere close to being exhausted - they still contain 600 million tons of salt!

Dill or Anethum graveolens is part of the Umbelliferae or Apiaceae family which includes coriander, cumin, fennel and carrot. Plants from the Umbelliferae family grow in a Mediterranean climate and are widespread in temperate regions.

Dill can grow up to 70 centimetres high, and in summer produces yellow umbrella-like shaped flowers.

This aromatic plant grows in the South of France but also in the North if protected from frost. Dill leaves are harvested in Spring and Summer.

Madagascar black pepper is the fruit of the Piper nigrum, from the Piperaceae family. It is harvested in the region of Toamasina. It releases very aromatic and hot notes. Madagascar black pepper is hand-picked then sorted by hand, then washed and dried in the sun.

The Timur berry in this mix comes from Nepal where it grows on small endemic trees from the Zanthoxylum armatum species from the Rutaceae family. This little berry is used in all dishes from the Terai lowlands of South Nepal. It is here in the birth place of Buddha, amongst the Tharu villages of thatched mud huts that these thorny bushes unfold their treasure.

Once the annual harvest is finished, the Timur berries are dried then sorted by hand. Local women sort on average 5 kilos of berries a day on large bamboo trays. The sorting process involves 3 separate stages: removing branches and other bits, separating the black seeds from the pericarp, and finally, selecting the ripest berries based on their colour.

Timur berry is also known as the “grapefruit pepper ” due to its acidic zesty notes, but it is also called “Timut pepper”.

Although pink berry is called pink pepper it is not part of the Piper genus and so it isn’t actually a pepper.

The scientific name for this pink berry is Schinus terebinthifolius which is part of the Anacardiaceae family which includes many trees and shrubs such as sumac, mango or the cashew nut tree.

It is also known as Bourbon pepper. It grows mainly in Madagascar or La Réunion on a dioecious tree which can grow up to 10 metres high and is very fast growing.

Only fully ripened berries are harvested, as they have the strongest aromas. They are then sorted by the expert hands of the local Malagasy women.

The story behind salmon gravlax

Gravlax means “buried salmon” in Swedish. This comes from the salmon being buried under a mix of herbs but mainly from the fact that in the Middle Ages, the Scandinavian fishermen buried their salmon in the ground along the shores of fjords during the summer to preserve the fish. This tradition lasted until the 1940’s. Then each Scandinavian home prepared its own salmon and kept it for several months in small barrels kept in the cold which contained salt, sugar, pepper and dill to preserve and flavour the salmon.