lakes, and coastlines, who landed many fish
but had little salt and few barrels. The
solution was to salt the cleaned fish lightly
and bury them where they had been caught, in
a hole in the ground, perhaps wrapped in birch
bark: gravlax means “buried salmon.” The
low summer temperature of the far northern
earth, the airlessness, minimal salt, and added
carbohydrates (from the bark, or from whey,
malted barley, or flour), all conspired to
encourage a lactic fermentation that acidified
the fish surface. And enzymes from the fish
muscle and the bacteria broke protein and fish
oil down to produce a buttery texture and
powerful, sharp, cheesy smell: the sur in
sursild and surlax means “sour.”
Modern, unfermented gravlax is made by
dry-salting salmon fillets for a few days at
refrigerator temperatures (p. 233).
Smoked Fish