Make gravlax the newest addition to your small plates menu
By Francine Cohen

Stop all the whining about this polar vortex repeat performance and get inspired by the culinary culture of a people who manage just fine in this weather…Swedish people.

Their classic dish, gravlax, has a place on both your Super Bowl buffet if you’re having friends over for the big game or can be an easy to prep and highly profitable bar snack that pairs beautifully with all sorts of cocktails on your menu.

Chef Magnus Lindström of Swedish Taste, Göteborg, presented this dish this past summer in the Hamptons as part of the Swedish Culinary Summer program (www.swedishculinarysummer.com/chefs) which was sponsored, in part, by Peter F. Heering / Xanté (www.xantenorthamerica.com).

Though prepped outside by the pool this is truly a year-round item that works with a variety of spirits and is sure to please guests as well as meet your food costs.

Lindstrom should know about these things; he won the Swedish Chef of the Year Award in 2003 and was twice an European Olympic Gold medalist in Gastronomy. Magnus established Swedish Taste in 2000 as a popular food & wine Studio for tastings, cooking lessons and special events and then in 2008 he added a top-rated gourmet restaurant to the establishment.

See how the Swedish chef makes preparing and serving gravlax easy for you:

1 large salmon filet, skin on
1/2 part sugar
1/2 part salt
Cracked pepper
Fresh Dill

Coat salmon liberally with salt and sugar, add black pepper and a liberal amount of dill (as this is what gives gravlax its unique flavor). Place in a shallow glass baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and weight it down. Place in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours. Remove and slice thinly and serve.

And, pair it with a Xanté mojito (recipe below), or something more warming for the season.

Xanté Mojito
4 parts Xanté
8-10 mint leaves
4 lime wedges
2 parts sugar syrup
Soda

Muddle mint and lime, add Xanté and sugar syrup. Shake and pour into a highball glass, fill with crushed ice, top with soda, give it a quick stir.