I love the process of curing. It turns back the clock on food preparation and is a style of food that’s really hot right now. Curing (which means to ” Take care of “) fish means to put it through a process of fermentation, pickling, or smoking or a combination before it is eaten. This can include adding salt , sugar, and smoking the fish . Salt is the oldest and best known of preserving agents , it attracts the moisture in the fish extracting the fluid and hardening the tissues.
The earliest form of curing was dehydration, other methods like salt curing go back thousands of years it is believed it was first recorded in 1743. Of course it would have been common practice back then as a way to store food as there was no refrigeration.
The recipe below is for a 24 hr cure period.
What you will need :
- 1/2 kg Salmon skin on boneless
- 1 cup sea salt
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp lemon tested
- 1/2 tsp dill finely chopped
- 1/2 cup good gin if you feel the need!
What you need to do :
Combine salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, fennel seeds in a bowl.
Spread half of the mix in the centre of a couple sheets of clingfilm.
Place fish skin side down, on the cure mix.
Spread the lemon zest and dill evenly over the fish and cover with remaining cure mix
Fold the sides of the foil up and over the fish and crimp to close, followed by a few nips of gin.
Close the clingfilm and press with a roasting tray and weight.
Chill for 24 hours, remove from clingfilm and pat dry
Place skin side down on a cutting board
Using a sharp knife and rinsing the blade between each cut on a thin diagonal leaving the skin off.
This could be served with a delicious horseradish cream, fresh cucumber and crunchy cos lettuce.