Hello -

I am posting this in the European forum in the hopes that it will be seen by someone from Sweden or Norway.

I'm looking for a traditional, home-style (husmanskost/tradisjonsmat?) recipe for gravad älg/gravet elg. From what I can see, and keeping it traditional, we're simply talking equal amounts of salt and sugar, with some cracked black pepper and juniper berries. Apply these, cure in the refrigerator for a few days, like gravlax, draining off the accumulated juices, then allow it to air dry for an hour or so before slicing paper-thin and serving. It can be air-dried for a longer period if desired, but evidently, this is not necessary to the identity of the product.

For anyone familiar with this product, is there any more to it? If so, would someone please be so kind as to reply or PM me with details? I have made gravlax from salmon many times, so I am somewhat familiar with the fundamentals, but a reliable method for making this similar food from red meat be very much appreciated.

Thank you

Ron

While we are waiting for our Scandinavian friends.



Thyme-gravad venison »carpaccio«

250 g / 8 oz caribou haunch, cleaned of silver skin (moose, muskox or beef could also be used for this dish)

Spices for the gravid marinade:
100 g salt
90 g cane sugar
3 tbsp Arctic thyme (or ordinary dried thyme)
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp ground black pepper

Take all the ingredients for the marinade and mix well.
Place the meat in a deep dish, e.g. a casserole dish.
Pour the gravad mix all over the meat and place the casserole dish in the refrigerator.
Leave to rest in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours (48 hours is better).
During the resting period, the meat should be turned once.
After the time is up, remove from the liquid and slice thinly.

Cranberry Relish
75 g fresh cranberries
100 g sugar
Zest and juice from one orange, keep separate
20 g fresh ginger

Place sugar and orange juice in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the sugar melts.
Then add ginger and lastly, the cranberries.
Allow the mix to continue to simmer until it begins to thicken slightly (about 10 min). Stir occasionally, careful
not to crush all the cranberries.
After the sauce thickens, stir in the zest and set aside to cool.

Carpaccio Dressing
1 tbsp white balsamic
vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp crushed angelica
Salt and white pepper
Mix well and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Garnish
100 g mixed green salad, washed and dried
25 g toasted cashew nuts
25 g shaved parmesan cheese

To serve:
Place a small handful of salad on a plate with slices of gravad venison carpaccio.
Place a spoonful of cranberry relish at the side of the carpaccio.
Drizzle dressing over carpaccio and salad.
Sprinkle the sliced carpaccio with cashew nuts and parmesan.

Recipe: Henri Lee

HiE - that looks very good ~ thank you for posting!

Please accept my apologies, I should have indeed included DENMARK in my post ~

Takke Dem!

Ron

My attempts have been similar to your recipe, and there is nothing more to it. Experiment until you grt a taste you like. I prefer a saltier taste, and have used less sugar the two times I have tried it. Came out very edible :-)

Takk, Muntjac ~

It is good to know that I am on the correct path. This is a project that I want to try very much, and will report on the results.

Have a good day -

Ron

Hi there!
I have not done this myself but I have eaten it.
I have searched for recipes and you are doing it correctly. There are variations to what spices are used and one recipe adds whisky at the end but juniper berries and pepper are the traditional.

An obvious touch would be 3 small aquavit. One to drink when you open the bottle, one to season and a last to drink before you close the bottle.

Snowhound, thank you for taking the time to research this. The touch of alcohol sounds like a good possibility ~

Muntjac, I think you have the right idea ~



I have made Romanian pastramă before, as well as Italian bresaola; it seems to me that those products are more "dry" than this is, that this Scandinavian charcuterie would have more moisture.

Thanks again, my friends - I believe I have a venison roast that will work well for this, and I will report on the results ~

quote:

Originally posted by tasunkawitko:
Hello -

I am posting this in the European forum in the hopes that it will be seen by someone from Sweden or Norway.

I'm looking for a traditional, home-style (husmanskost/tradisjonsmat?) recipe for gravad älg/gravet elg. From what I can see, and keeping it traditional, we're simply talking equal amounts of salt and sugar, with some cracked black pepper and juniper berries. Apply these, cure in the refrigerator for a few days, like gravlax, draining off the accumulated juices, then allow it to air dry for an hour or so before slicing paper-thin and serving. It can be air-dried for a longer period if desired, but evidently, this is not necessary to the identity of the product.

For anyone familiar with this product, is there any more to it? If so, would someone please be so kind as to reply or PM me with details? I have made gravlax from salmon many times, so I am somewhat familiar with the fundamentals, but a reliable method for making this similar food from red meat be very much appreciated.

Thank you

Ron

You have the basic recipe.
Then you can experiment from that.
More or less salt, more or less sugar, with or without juniper berries, different kinds of alcohol, different kinds of herbs and so on.

There are almost endless ways to experiment out from the basic recipe and it is almost only your fantasy that limits you

And one recipe that might be great for Moose(Elg), might not be so good for Red deer or other kinds of deer.

Ate some gravad reindeer at easter nice with a cilisause, beer and snaps at the outdoor fireplace.

Norwegianwoods and Nordic2, thank you - and many, many thanks to all who have replied!

I took out a mule deer sirloin from a doe we shot last year, in order to give this a try. I'll be sure to photograph and document the process for this first attempt, and we'll see how it goes. When I finish the project, I'll post about it and we'll see if I was close.

Thanks again to all of you for helping me learn about this!

Ron

Thank you for spreading this often misunderstood Nordic culinary delicacy!
Add some pickled herring, meatballs and "snaps" and you have a traditional "julbord"!

It is certainly my pleasure, and I'm learning!

I am truly enjoying my culinary journeys to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. It helps that many people in the area where I live (including me) are descendants of Scandinavians.

So far, I've made Potatis korv (värmlandskorv?), gravlax, hovmästarsås/gravlaxsås, köttbullar, Bergensk fiskesuppe, Dansk Flæskeæggekage, Sima (lemon mead from Finland), Äppelfläsk, and Färsrullader, which is probably my favourite so far. I apologise for any spelling or grammar errors.

I love it all, and made all of them, including the potatis korv, from scratch. I even cured my own bacon for the Äppelfläsk. You guys up north have all the good stuff!

If anyone is interested, these and other things I have made from around the world can be seen at http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net.

Many thanks, my new friends!

http://www.kokschefen.se/index...&view=article&id=694 Her is a receipe my Swedish wife from Halsingland uses for Gravid oxfile (filet mignon). She uses Madera or Port wines in place of the juniper berries. Not traditional(without the berries) I know, but supurb fare 1 lb meat (beef, moose deer)1/2 cup sugar. 1/2 cup salt. 1/2 cup Madera or port. 1 tbs white or black pepper. 1 tbs oil. Combine and mix all in a shallow pan. Refrigerate for 72 hours. The sauce: 1 1/2 cups sour cream. 1 tbs light mustard. 1/2 cup chopped green onion stems. 1/2 cup chopped persil. 1 tbs salt. 3 garlic chopped cloves. Everything served cold. ENJOY!! Lyle and Inger

Hello, Lyle ~

Please pass along my thanks to Inger for this delicious-looking recipe ~ The sauce especially seems very itneresting, and I will see if I can prepare this when I settle on a method for the gravad älg ~

I am going to try to start this process tongiht, and we'll see what happens ~ I really and truly hope to do this project justice to all of you, and to my Scandinavian heritage ~

Alright, I've started this project, making a dry gravad mix of sea salt, dark brown sugar, cracked black pepper and crushed juniper berries. We'll see how it goes.

As I said above, I used an average-sized sirloin (football) roast from a mule deer for this. This is a nice roast, but it does have one draw-back: a couple of layers of in-edible silverskin; however, in this case, the draw-back might be an advantage, because in trimming them out, I created a butterflied roast that was composed of three, loosely-connected layers of venison that were all about the right thickness for good penetration of the cure - in fact, they reminded me of salmon fillets. Since a couple of spots still seemed a little thick, I slashed them across the grain (the same as if the finished product were being sliced) in order to open them up a little. The photos I took will illustrate this idea a little better.

Making the gravad mix, I "guesstimated" based on my experience with gravad lax and used 5 tablespoons of sea salt, 4 tablespoons of dark brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of freshy-cracked black pepper and 1 tablespoon of freshly-crushed juniper berries. At first, it seemed like this made way too much gravad mix, but by the time I laid some out on a plate, set the "large side" of the roast on the "base layer" of cure and then coated all layers and the top of the roast, it seemed about right - time will tell!

Once all of the cure was applied, I put the roast in a zip-lock bag, pressed out the air, sealed it and placed it in a rectangular, glass baking dish; I then placed a square, glass baking dish on top of the zip-lock bag and weighted it down with around 5 pounds or so of canned goods. I then placed the whole she-bang in the refrigerator, where it will remain for three days, until Tuesday afternoon. I will periodically turn the bag in order to distribute the cure throughout the meat.

Those of you who have been following this discussion know that I'm flying a little blind here, but the fact is that everything about this product and the method for making it is very closely-related to making traditional gravad lax, which I've done a few times, so it was a familiar process. The only difference is the meat used (venison in place of salmon) and using the juniper berries in place of dill. It is often traditional to add a shot of alcohol to the gravad mix for either product (aquavit to gravad lax and brandy or whiskey to gravad älg); I didn't have aquavit, brandy or whiskey in the house, but I do have some Jägermeister, and considered adding a shot of this German liqueur as a nod to the other half of my ancestry. In the end, though, I decided to keep it simple for my first attempt; if I am successful with this first try, I'll try adding some Jägermeister to my next batch.

Well, there it is - we'll see how it goes. My one concern is that this first attempt might be a little too salty, but between the curing and the draining off of the liquids, I am guessing it will be fine. Besides, this is meant to be a rather salty product, part of the reason that it was developed (for meat preservation), and it is sliced very thin when served. I'm sure that things will be alright in the end.

If anyone is interested, I encourage you to give this a try!

Well, gentlemen - I believe that I was reasonably successful on my first attempt!

Everything seemed to turn out right; the chunk of meat that I used might have been a little too "thin," and it might be just a little bit too salty, but over-all, I think it came off very well. The finished texture was very much like the gravlax I have had: firm yet soft, dry yet moist. The flavour was excellent, and it seemed to me to be very well suited for wild game.

I have a bunch of notes and some photos, and will pst them when I am able to. I did't "prepare" it in any way yet; I simply sliced it and tried it. I'd like to see about making Mrs. ldkier's sour cream/mustard sauce, and see if I can present a nice-looking plate for a "serving" photo.

Very good stuff - I am impressed!

Nice to hear what your first try succeded you will tweak your process so it fits your taste. Most of the salted fish, meat and fowl in Sweden were for conserving it for a long time so we have developed a taste for salt food. I think you made a good decision for the jaegermiester its better to drink along.

quote:

Originally posted by Nordic2:
Nice to hear what your first try succeded you will tweak your process so it fits your taste. Most of the salted fish, meat and fowl in Sweden were for conserving it for a long time so we have developed a taste for salt food. I think you made a good decision for the jaegermiester its better to drink along.

+1 on all
Looking forward to some photos.

Surströming = fermented herring
Surströmming is a scandinavian food which is fermented herring. It is salty and a bit sour tasting and is traditionally eaten as a kind of burrito with boiled potato and red onion.
The fish is cleaned and the meat is more of a spice than the main ingredient.
Unfortunately the last part of the fermentation process, which creates butyric acid, and happens in the tin which makes it highly pressurized.
Wiki Always google before opening gifts of strange food!

quote:

Surströmming is a scandinavian food

Hehe Swedish you mean.That thing is smelly and quite good but many Norwegians and Danes dont like it!! But again we have many dishes the swedes dont like eighter.....

quote:

Originally posted by snowhound:
Surströming = fermented herring
Unfortunately the last part of the fermentation process, which creates butyric acid, and happens in the tin which makes it highly pressurized.
Wiki Always google before opening gifts of strange food!

Truly, a multi-purpose offering!

Placed on a fence-post under a warm sun for a few hours, the can can be explosively opened with a 30'06.

Believe me, within a couple hours, the amount of foxes that arrive to investigate make me think they must have all have genetic origins in Scandinavia!!

Rgds

Ian

Norwegians have their own sour/fermented trout.

quote:

Originally posted by Nordic2:
Norwegians have their own sour/fermented trout.

Yes we do, but usually it is far from being as potent as the Surströming

I get hungry then i feel the smell of surströmming.

Take a look what Surstrømming is...tuff texsas boys cant take it...
http://retardo.dk/videos.php?id=5403

That was funny

Gentlemen -

I apologise for taking so long to finish this up - it's been a long summer!

Here is my final work on the gravad alg/gravet elg:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...ad-lg_topic3925.html

I sincerely hope that I did justice to this tradition - I still intend to try the Danish version mentioned above, and the Swedish mustard/sour cream sauce as well.

My thanks to ALL of you for your help!

Ron

Well done it looks great. ry it with some home made aqvavit(vodka).

From the pictures of the finished Gravet Elg it looks like the restaurant version.

Next: you have to taste RAKFISK - it is a conserved trout that we have in Norway - diffrent from SURSTRØMMING from Sweden.

Be aware that the Aquavit is essential. Very useful to drink and could be useful when GRAVING meat ! Many recepies contain aquavit !

Invite us to the party - we hire a Boeing 747 from Oslo picking up the Swedes in Stockholm and the Danish from Copenhagen and have a heck of a party in your mountain Montana

We will bring Aquavit from Norway - ( the best ) and from Sweden and from Denmark. Beeing in an Union with each other for many hundreds years we still talk to each other

Thank you everyone for the kind words - it was very important for me to "get it right," as I do take these things seriously ~

There is no aquavit avaialble anywhere near where I live, but I will have to see if I can find some the next time I go to "the big city" Is it the same as vodka, or are there any fundamental differences?

quote:

RAKFISK

Thank you for the suggestion - I did some reading on rakfisk here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakfisk

This looks like something I would try for sure ~ I will see if I can get any saltwater trout or char with which to attempt it.

quote:

Invite us to the party - we hire a Boeing 747 from Oslo picking up the Swedes in Stockholm and the Danish from Copenhagen and have a heck of a party in your mountain Montana

We will bring Aquavit from Norway - ( the best ) and from Sweden and from Denmark. Beeing in an Union with each other for many hundreds years we still talk to each other

This sounds like one really good time - I would really enjoy learning from you guys, and would also like to share a few things that I've tried!

Its a flavored kind of vodka. We just use the home made vodka and put spices in it.

quote:

Originally posted by Nordic2:
Its a flavored kind of vodka. We just use the home made vodka and put spices in it.

No no no .. Aquavit is not flavoured vodka. Aquavit is made of potatoes and contains a spicy herb that you have in the Sauerkraut - I think it is called Caraway. Aquavit is much better as a schnaps than vodka. Vodka is ok for long drinks !

Concerning RAKFISK... be careful ! It is supposed to be dug down into mother earth in an airtight plastic container to cool and develop to get the flavour and softness. But do NOT touch earth when handling the fish or let the fish at all make contact with earth

quote:

Originally posted by tasunkawitko:
Thank you everyone for the kind words - it was very important for me to "get it right," as I do take these things seriously ~

There is no aquavit avaialble anywhere near where I live, but I will have to see if I can find some the next time I go to "the big city" Is it the same as vodka, or are there any fundamental differences?

quote:

RAKFISK

Thank you for the suggestion - I did some reading on rakfisk here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakfisk

This looks like something I would try for sure ~ I will see if I can get any saltwater trout or char with which to attempt it.

quote:

Invite us to the party - we hire a Boeing 747 from Oslo picking up the Swedes in Stockholm and the Danish from Copenhagen and have a heck of a party in your mountain Montana

We will bring Aquavit from Norway - ( the best ) and from Sweden and from Denmark. Beeing in an Union with each other for many hundreds years we still talk to each other

This sounds like one really good time - I would really enjoy learning from you guys, and would also like to share a few things that I've tried!

I would really recommend that you try raw grouse. Cut thin slices of the breast pieces of a fresh grouse. Some drips of olive oil and lemon, some salt and it is ready to eat. A fantastic starter. My favorite is willow grouse and ptarmigan but capercaillie, black grouse and hazel hen is also perfect for this dish.

/ P-A

That is a good suggestion P-A Also a raw grouse hart in a small vodka shot is also recommended by one of the Norwegian famous chefs ..

Grouse carpaccio is excellent.

Nordic2's "home made vodka"(though I have not tried his "brand"), is not home made vodka, but bottled evil. Do not drink bottled evil.

man, what have you guys got against cooking your food??? that's why man invented fire! i have to say, though, those Texas home boys were funny as hell

Jdollar : once a Viking always a Viking ..

Firewood is constantly wet over here ...

that's what gasoline( petrol) is made for!

We didn't have that in the Viking time... So we developed "raw" methods instead ....