Talk:Gravlax

Crisp bread
Traditionally served with crisp bread (knackebrod)? I would guess tunnbrod, the crisp kind, would be much more common. Filur 6 July 2005 02:14 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I have never heard about eating gravlax on crisp bread (knäckebröd) before. And I am from Sweden. Crisp bread would be the last place I put my gravlax on.
 * Jens Persson (130.242.128.85 22:15, 4 November 2006 (UTC))


 * I agree; I prefer it on bread like tunnbröd that won't have overly much taste interfering, like knäckebröd. But it's probably not "wrong information" if someone would claim otherwise; there are no right or special way to eat it. -- Northgrove 01:15, 17 December 2006 (UTC)


 * there are diffrent ways to eat them. Some eat them with tunnbröd, but in Gothenburg and in southern parts of Sweden people eat it with knäckebröd.--87.227.76.244 09:49, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

raw?
Is it really raw like sashimi? I kinda don't think so -- the article says it's cured; does that somehow qualify as "raw" (as opposed to sashimi, which isn't cured in any way.) --jpgordon&#8711;&#8710;&#8711;&#8710; 04:17, 12 August 2006 (UTC)


 * In Finland, graavilohi can be served both raw or cured; both are referred with the same name. Usually the Finnish joulupöytä consists both raw and cured gravlax.194.89.192.24 07:46, 15 November 2006 (UTC)


 * It's raw in the sense that it's not cooked. Curing isn't a cooking process, it's a preservation process, like pickling. So, in the same way that pickles are 'raw', so is gravlax. It's also distinct from what you might know as lox, which is a smoked salmon. Smoking may or may not involve cooking (depending on whether it's cooked then smoked, hot smoked only, or cold smoked). - super &beta;&epsilon;&epsilon; cat 23:04, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Modern variations
Those modern variations mentioned are extremely rare. I have never heard of them before. Possibly some chef made them up for a cooking championship? I think they could be left out. If we want to mention some more unusual ways of spicing it, we should at least find out which is the more common ones. I think I've come across lemon. // habj 14:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)


 * One very good reason to list it is that the popular Ruhlman & Polcyn book, Charcuterie, gives a fennel and Pernod cured salmon as its gravlax recipe. In fact, last week I made a gravlax cured with white and black peppers, dill, and akvavit.  (It was delicious.)  In any case, I cleaned it up so that the last paragraph references the Ruhlman & Polcyn cookbook.  The "modern variations" are now drawn from their suggestions, so there's some basis in fact.  --Mgreenbe 04:39, 24 July 2007 (UTC)


 * It should be noted that dill is used as a spice, thou it is not necessary for the "graving" process. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.228.169.53 (talk) 21:03, 23 August, 2008


 * I love Ruhlman and Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (in fact, I just used it to make my own cured salmon... excellent). However, its use in this article seems to be inappropriate.  Echoing the above concerns, the reason the  "modern variations" seem rare is because they aren't actually gravlax, but a specific recipe for cured salmon by Polcyn and Ruhlman.  Note that in their book they don't call their recipe gravlax.  Instead, they provide a more or less general process for curing salmon and offer variations on this process, one of which is their recipe for fennel and pernod cured salmon.  They, in fact, single out gravlax as its own specific variation from what they describe.  So, unless better evidence can be provided that fennel and pernod are actually used to make a product called and recognized as "gravlax" this section should be edited or eliminated altogether. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.98.38.227 (talk) 06:59, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Nordic special move
"Gravlax was also a Nordic special attack move. Grav was the name the Vikings would give their left leg in fighting, and Lax the right. Thus, they would plunge their bezerker blades into the earth, and using it as a pivot would kick out both legs violently towards the enemy. Hence: Gravlax. It is said that the move was imitated by Viking soldiers upon seeing the trick performed by midgets in taverns using walking sticks thrown by an entertained crowd of revellers."

The above appears to be vandalism. I removed it, though I have to admit it is funny. - Kristoff —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.30.51.101 (talk) 15:34, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Finland and Estonia
It must be noted that the words 'graavi' or 'graav' do not belong to literally correct Finnish or Estonian languages, respectively. These are citate-loans from Nordic (Germanic) languages.

89.27.42.176 (talk) 21:38, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

word "Gravlax" is English ?
The word "gravlax" is added to a list of English words with Swedish origin (so it's not about this article as such). I wonder if the word "gravlax" is commonly understood in any English-speaking nation ? Boeing720 (talk) 03:38, 7 August 2013 (UTC) I don't know if it is commonly understood, but I'm in Canada, and it's not obscure to me. --Richardson mcphillips (talk) 17:15, 7 March 2015 (UTC)

Sugar content when it's ready to eat?
Sugar is bad for teeth, especially saccarose. Any other harmful substances in this food?

ee1518 (talk) 08:57, 8 June 2016 (UTC)

maitre d' sauce
The link goes to the article on the concept of a maitre d'hotel, and has nothing to do with sauce. I've removed the link. If Beurre Maître d'Hôtel is meant, it has nothing to do with dill and mustard. --Richardson mcphillips (talk) 01:11, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

last sentence in "History."
This has been there for a long time, but I don't see its value, and the youtube references hardly qualify for Wikipedia. I suggest its deletion. ExpatSalopian (talk) 20:14, 22 January 2020 (UTC)


 * I agree. It was already explained that dill and salt are involved anyway, and the assertion that it's often eaten on rye bread doesn't belong in a history section. The lead already mentions it's often eaten on bread. So I've removed it. Largoplazo (talk) 22:29, 22 January 2020 (UTC)

Maitre d'hotel sauce alternative translation
The article states that hovmästarsås means literally "maître d'hôtel sauce". I think a better translation would be "butler's sauce" since most hovmästare were historically(until the 20th century) employed not at hotels or restaurants but in private homes.

This is reflected in the meaning of the word hovmästare which was formerly translated into English as "butler". SAOB has no entry for "butler" but notes in 1934 that "hovmästare" are now usually employed at restaurants or clubs and not in great households.

Since there haven't been any butlers employed in Swedish households in a long time, that part of the word was lost and the meaning of the word shifted. The shift was so strong that in present-day Swedish, the English word "butler" is used for heads of waiting staff in private homes, instead of the traditional hovmästare. 77.107.54.38 (talk) 04:01, 30 August 2022 (UTC)