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Hovmästarsås - Gravlaxsås (Gravlax Mustard)

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TasunkaWitko View Drop Down
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    Posted: 24 April 2012 at 15:50
This is a recipe for hovmästarsÃ¥s-gravlaxsÃ¥s, or Swedish mustard, is meant to pair up with Gravlax. It comes from a Swedish food website, and translated via google translator from the Swedish, so the grammar is a little clunky.
 
NOTE: right now, the recipe is posted as I received it. A friend in Sweden has recommended that the sugar be cut back until it is the same amount as the salt. I am going to try this modification soon, and will most likely amend the recipe below. When I do, I will change the amount of sugar, make a note at the bottom of this topic and delete this note.

Quote This classic was one of the most important sauces in the Swedish restaurant kitchens during the 1900s. It was served not only for gravlax - cold and grilled - and other marinated fish, but also to the shellfish cooked lobster and crab, as well as pickled herring. Now has the reputation, but at certain times and many have seen the bottom of this a bit extreme sauce. It was among other master chef Auguste Escoffier who found the tomb of the salmon delicious but despised hovmästarsåsen and instead proposed a tartar sauce as an accessory. A Danish version also contains egg yolks, and some lace sauce with a little brandy or honey. Sometimes excluded and dill sauce is then called simply the mustard. "

This recipe calls for decilitres. 1 decilitre is equal to .4 cup measure, or slightly less than half a cup.
 
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 to 2 pinches of salt
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
1/2 dl Swedish sweet mustard (a light honey-mustard could be substitued wig good results)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 dl neutral oil
salt and white pepper from the mill
  1. Mix sugar, salt and dill (it is said that the dill flavor arrives best this way).
  2. Mix the mustard and vinegar.
  3. Stir in oil, little by little so that the sauce does not crack. Season with salt and pepper. let stand awhile before serving.
Here's a complete tutorial on this outstanding condiment, based on the recipe above.
 
The goods:
 
 
It is "best" with fresh, chopped dill; however, dried dill (NOT SEED) will work fine, providing you cut the amount used in half, since it is more conentrated than fresh.
 
For this preparation, I chose a great sweet mustard that had just a hint of spice in combination with the dijon mustard normally used:
 
 
After measuring the salt, sugar and dill:
 
 
I added the mustards and the red wine vinegar:
 
 
I then mixed everything together and began to slowly drizzle in the olive oil:
 
 
The recipe calls for "neutral" oil, but after trying this a couple of times, I prefer the flavour imparted by extra virgin olive oil, so that's what I use.
 
The trick is to add the oil slowly, and stir it in completely, a little at a time:
 
 
This way, the oil doesn't separate from the rest of the mustard sauce.
 
When all the oil had been incorporated into the mustard sauce, I added a pinch of salt and a grinding or three of black pepper to taste:
 
 
And that's pretty much it:
 
 
This mustard sauce is absolutely the thing to use for gravlax, and is also good on other fish dishes. I haven't tried it yet, but based on the flavour profiles, I think it would also be great for chicken, and possibly pork. One thing I can vouch for is that it works very well for potato salad, as well!
 
Easy, delicious, and, for the most part, home-made ~ give it a go and see if you like it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 April 2012 at 19:24
Now that really sounds good, Ron.
 
Any idea how long it will keep? I'm guessing that if it's like other mustards it will keep in the fridge about two days longer than forever---especially if dry dill is used.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 April 2012 at 20:16

hey, brook - between the salt and the vinegar, this will last a long, long time. can't say for sure how long, but the first one i made was fine the whole half-year i had and used it. i'm sure it could go longer, but the FDA probably wouldn't approve.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 April 2012 at 02:53
Nice post Ron...you know my feelings on gravlaxDeadDead, but I adore gravlaxas...some of the best stuff I've ever made. 

You're right about it being equally good on chicken or pork, and it's a nice dip for most sausage as well.

Thinned down a bit...it would be a different sort of sweet-ish vinaigrette.
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChrisFlanders Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 April 2012 at 05:21

So strange that the Skandinavians throw sugar on and in everything they prepare (I'm exaggerating just a little). Sugar mostly doesn't do it for me in savory dishes and it's a total "no" on fish. The first batch of gravad lax that I made contained sugar as the traditional recipes prescribe... yuck, fish and sugar! Then I started making it with a bare minimum of sugar so it couldn't be tasted and it was heaven!

I notice they call it "gravlaxsÃ¥s" (gravlax sauce) but also "hovmästarsÃ¥s" in which "sÃ¥s" means sauce and "hovmästar" as much as "hoffmeister" in german or maître d'hôtel in french, which indicates they must use this hovmästarsÃ¥s sauce on other things than gravlax, probably on meat too??
I should give this sauce a try first before having an opinion on it, but it contains that skandinavian type of sweet mustard and more sugar, dunno, have to try first.
Like the yin yang salt/sugar/dill composition, Ron.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 April 2012 at 07:14
dave - you're certainly right - it is very versatile!
 
chris - do give it a try, it is a very interesting balance. the yin/yang thing happened quite by accident while i was assembling the sugar and dill in the bowl, and when i saw it, i thought it to be a perfect statement on this sauce, so i added the eyes.
 
if you're concerned about the sweetness, simply use all-dijon mustard or some other mustard, rather than the combination of dijon and sweet; however, i do think that the sauce benefits from some sweetness (for balance), and this formula works pretty well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 December 2012 at 12:18
Originally posted by HistoricFoodie HistoricFoodie wrote:

Now that really sounds good, Ron.
 
Any idea how long it will keep? I'm guessing that if it's like other mustards it will keep in the fridge about two days longer than forever---especially if dry dill is used.
 
I've got some that's been in the fridge almost a year now ~ forgot about it until last night.
 
Some extra olive oil separated off and floated up to the top; wasn't able to re-incorporate it, so I poured it off, and there still seems to be plenty there.
 
The mustard itself had darkend somewhat, I am guessing due to the amount of dried dill (dark green) as the colour leeched out of it, but it tasted GREAT - the flavours across the board (sweet, sour, salty, etc.) were just as good as they were when I made it. It went very well with some potatis korv that I served for Saint Lucia's Day.
 
Hope that helps answer this question!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 December 2012 at 15:08
Tas,
 
Lovely Gravlax and pictorial. Perhaps one day, when I am on vacation we shall tackle.
 
Thanks so much for contributing and sharing this.
 
Margi.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 December 2012 at 08:39
it looks like i may have to modify my gravlaxsÃ¥s recipe just a little - it may have too much sugar for a traditional gravlaxsÃ¥s. i know a fellow on another forum who is from sweden, and invited him to take a look. he said that it looks great, but that the sugar should probably be reduced in the gravlaxsÃ¥s recipe, more like a 50/50 ratio with the salt, which makes sense. the next time i make some, i'll try it with the reduced sugar and see how it goes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 December 2012 at 02:22
I'll be making a batch of gravlaxas either today or tomorrow Ron, and I'll let you know how I make out...I'm going to either eliminate the sweet mustard entirely, or cut back on the sugar as you said.
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 December 2012 at 08:25

interested in the results, dave! cutting back the sugar should, if we are correct, bring it into some really nice balance....

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2013 at 05:47
The gravlaxas experiment went well Ron....toned it down just a bit.
I totally eliminated the sugar, and went with honey mustard and whole grained mustard.
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2013 at 11:15

Dave - with the honey mustard providing a hint of sweetness, I'm willing to bet that the mustard was brought into pretty nice balance. We'll see how it goes when I try mine, too ~

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 April 2013 at 12:40
TAS.
 
This would be lovely on a whole roasted salmon ... Shall definitely be preparing this project ...
 
Thanks again, appreciate your suggestion. 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 May 2013 at 09:33
Margi -
 
If you and Fil have any of your Norwegian salmon left over, this would be a good mustard to try with it ~ Star
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 May 2013 at 10:12
Tas,
 
Yes, we do have some left over, and shall give this a try, tomorrow evening. Need to look at ingredient list, and Wednesday is Saint Isidro Patron Saint Of Madrid Day, Bank Holiday; OXTAIL is the dish for Wednesday ...
 
We could serve Salmon as a starter -- with your lovely Mustard and the Oxtail as main dish ...
 
Dessert: lite, lite ...
 
WE have about 10 fotos, to show progression of the sea salt process on the Norwegian Salmon with the sugar --- shall upload them, where - ever you wish; in Scandinavia ...
 
 
Margi.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 May 2013 at 10:29
Sounds like a great Idea - if you have any quesitons about the ingredients for this mustard sauce, let me know - it is a versatile dish that produces delicious results.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DeSveede Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 July 2013 at 20:28
right now I have salmon (lax) in my refrigerator getting marinated. since I read Swedish I am going to some Swedish sites to get a recipe for gravlaxsås, although I have made it before (doesn't hurt to double check).will report back on my findings.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 July 2013 at 05:02
Welcome DaSvede! Hope you enjoy your time here, and I'm looking forward to an update on the gravlax.
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 July 2013 at 10:40
DaSveede! As a couple of fellow Swedes, we're looking forward to seeing what you find out, and offer a big, hearty welcome! Please look around, and feel free to jump in on any discussion, or start your own. Also, if you want, please drop into the New Members' Lounge and introduce yourself ~
 
See you in the forums!
 
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