If the most ‘cheffy’ signs are Cancer and Taurus, the sign of TV chefs is Gemini, who are good at communicating what to do with food to the nation – TV chefs like Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith, Heston Blumenthal, Michel Roux Jnr all who are Gemini.
For Geminis, food is an opportunity to chat, to gossip, to network while breaking bread with others. Canapés, tapas, mezze, and snacks are all Gemini. If Taurus is slow food, Gemini is about fast food. Ruled by Mercury, this quicksilver chatty sign, likes new trends.
Gemini is ruled by Mercury, which rules the colour green: so choose green foods: spinach, green beans, edamame beans, peas, asparagus, salads. It also rules salmon. Loki was part of Nordic mythology, a mischievous god, who turned himself into a salmon. This Scandinavian trickster god is the equivalent of Mercury, the Roman messenger god.
Gravlax is the national dish of Sweden, which is a Gemini country.
Gravlax/gravadlax fish is cured but not smoked. Gravad means ‘grave’ or where you have dug a hole which is how they used to preserve salmon in winter, digging a hole in the frozen ground. Lax means salmon, hence the New York Jewish terms for smoked salmon, ‘lox’. It comes with a traditional dill mustard sauce; dill is another Gemini food.
Of course you will need twin salmon fillets to make this for it to be truly Gemini. The duality of Gemini is also represented by opposing flavours: sugar and salt.
Gravadlax with dill and mustard sauce
You can buy gravadlax of course but it’s also pretty simple to make – just make sure you get the freshest best quality belly salmon. Ask your fishmonger to remove all the pin bones.
If you buy the gravadlax, you can just make the sauce, which is totally delicious with any kind of salmon.
Ingredients
- 2x 500g pieces of salmon belly, skin on, descaled
- 100 g of kosher or coarse sea salt
- 100 g sugar
- handful juniper berries, crushed
- bunch fresh dill, chopped
- small glass white alcohol, say gin, vodka, tequila, of your choice, optional
For the mustard dill sauce:
- 4 tbsp dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp sunflower, rapeseed or vegetable oil
- 6 tbsp sugar or honey
- 4 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar
- bunch fresh dill, leaves picked off
To serve:
- more fresh dill
- Lemon slices
- capers
- slices dark bread
Instructions
For the gravadlax:
- Wash gently and pat dry the salmon with kitchen roll or a clean tea towel
- Blend the salt, sugar, juniper, dill, and alcohol if using, together.
- Spread this mixture all over the skinless side of the salmon pieces.
- Sandwich the two salmon pieces together, skin-side outermost, and wrap tightly with clingfilm. Place in a baking tray, weighing down the salmon with another tray and heavy weights such as tin cans. Put in the fridge. Leave for 2 days. The longer you leave it, the more cured it is.
- Remove from the fridge and unwrap the fish. Remove the marinade. Rinse it carefully in cold water. Pat dry.
To make the dill sauce:
- Combine all the ingredients in a blender and whizz under emulsified.
- To serve, slice finely, adding more dill, some lemon slices and capers if you like. Serve with dark bread and the dill mustard sauce.
