Home-cured Smoked Salmon (aka Gravlax) Part II

There, I did it! I cured salmon at home in my own fridge. This is by far my bravest, most adventurous and most rewarding little culinary project. My salmon had been sitting in the fridge the past 3 days - see my first post and a step-by-step photo capture of what I did with it.

Today, I unveiled my little package and it looked promising.

All the things that worried me about it - water coming out, a dense and hard texture - are all the signs that it is done correctly! Wonder of wonders. I've read many websites and blogs about this process now. As water exits the fish, any bacteria on the surface of the salmon also lose water and thus die. The curing process is really quite simply that.

This Australian cream cheese is super creamy and yummy and far superior to the Philadelphia cream cheese.

Slice paper-thin 

Overall verdict:

1. HIGHLY SUITABLE FOR VIRGIN CHEFS. No culinary skills needed. (See what I read about this months later.)
2. Suitable for busy executives and multi-tasking housewives - more waiting time than "doing time" and no dishes to wash
3. Great for those who love smoked salmon but are on a shoestring budget. This costs just a fraction of what you have to fork out at the stores.
4. Good to impress your guests
5. Good for adding some class to the table at home

Some conditions:

1. Salmon must be as fresh as possible.
2. You can wait a few days before serving
3. You have more adults than children as guests. I'm waiting for my children to develop more sophisticated palates.

Now what the fish are you waiting for?