Star Anise Gravlax Food

STAR ANISE GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Combine sugar, salt, star anise, and peppercorns in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until spices are well crushed. Rub fish well with the mixture.
• Arrange chopped fennel leaves, lemon slices, and any leftover seasonings in a glass baking dish large enough to hold the fish flat. Sprinkle flesh side of fish with vodka and lay in dish, skin side up.
• Cover fish with plastic wrap and place a wooden cutting board on top. Weight with cans. Cure in refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Fish should look opaque when done.
• Remove fish from baking dish and brush off seasonings. Serve immediately, or rewrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.
• To serve, slice very thinly on an angle down to skin. To assemble hors d'oeuvres, top each cracker with a slice of gravlax, a slice of fennel, some fennel leaves, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

GRAVLAX

Steps:

• Rinse the fillets in cold water and pat them dry with paper towels.
• Crush the caraway seeds, aniseed, juniper berries, red pepper flakes, and black peppercorns using a mortar and pestle.
• Or place the spices on a cutting board or other hard surface and crush them with the underside of a heavy skillet.
• Combine with the salt, sugar, and dill.
• Place one of the fillets skin side down in a deep ceramic dish just big enough to hold the fillets.
• Rub the fillet with half the spice and dill mixture.
• Rub the other fillet with the remaining mixture and place it skin side up on top of the first, creating a salmon'sandwich' with all the spices and dill in-between.
• Pour the aquavit on top, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and place a heavy weight, such as two heavy plates or a saucepan, on top of the fish.
• Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days, turning the fish every 12 hours and basting it with the brine that accumulates in the dish.
• To serve, dust off some of the spices and slice the fish into thin slices, on the diagonal- the way they cut smoked salmon, with a sharp thin knife.
• Serve with mustard sauce and dark rye bread, for open-faced sandwiches, or with mustard, pickles, and capers.