Salmon:

One 2-pound salmon fillet, skin-on

as fresh as possible!

3 tbsp salt

2 tbsp granulated white sugar

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch fresh dill, chopped

Method

1. Lay the salmon fillet in a wide shallow dish that fits the salmon snugly, skin side down.

2. In a bowl mix together the salt, sugar, English mustard and gin to make a yellow slush. Spread this mixture over the salmon's pink flesh, covering well.

3. Roughly chop the dill, and then pat the herb down onto the paste-covered salmon. Press well so that no pink from the salmon is visible.

4. Quickly but not frenziedly, turn the fish over without it losing its paste and herb coating. Cover the dish with one layer of clingfilm/clingwrap pressing into the edges of the fish before wrapping it around the sides of the dish, and then do another layer of cling over that.

5. Weigh the fish down with jars, tins or any other weights you can find. Place in the fridge for 2-3 days.

6. Unwrap the dish and lift the salmon fillet out of the liquid it will now be lying in. Rub off and discard the dill to expose the pink salmon, and lay on a carving board flesh side up.

7. Working from the right hand end of the fish (unless you're left-handing), carve very thin diagonal slithers with a long, sharp knife. Don't worry about the uniformity of the slices. Instead try to get them as thin as possible. The fish skin helps you to carve, as it will give you something to run your knife along as you go.

Re-wrap in cling film and keep the gravlax steeping in the fridge if it is not all sliced in one go