Pavé of home smoked salmon with whipped horseradish cream & Avruga caviar

To cure the salmon

Mix the salts, caster sugar ,brandy, lemon and orange together and rub the salmon with the mix, then place the salmon in a plastic container, cover completely with the mixture and weigh down. Cover with cling film and leave for 24 hours. When ready remove salmon from container, wash off excess salt mixture and pat dry.

To make the horseradish cream

Finely grate the horseradish root and mix with the 50ml vinegar, add icing sugar to taste, add the mixture to the cream and leave to infuse for 6 hours. When ready pass the cream through a fine sieve to remove the horseradish. Whisk until soft peaks form and chill. Reserve until ready.

To smoke the salmon

Heat the sawdust in a frying pan until it sets on fire then place the sawdust in to a large heat proof pan and cover immediately to extinguish the fire and trap in the smoke. Place the salmon onto a cooling rack and place over the smoking pan then wrap the entire pan and salmon in a bin liner to trap in the smoke and flavour the salmon leave to infuse for 6 hours in the fridge. When ready unwrap and discard the sawdust, remove the skin from the salmon and trim all the fat. Cut 10 x ‘pavé’ from the centre of the fillet.

For the pickled cucumber

In a large pan on a medium heat, bring the vinegar, 50ml water, sugar, cinnamon, fennel seed, coriander seed and star anise to a boil. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Pass the pickling liquor through a fine sieve into a large bowl and leave to cool down.

Meanwhile, slice the cucumbers in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds using a spoon. Discard the seeds and dice the flesh into 5-7mm cubes, place into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with the salt. Leave the cucumber for a minimum of 3 hours to lightly cure.

In a medium saucepan on a medium heat, bring the mustard seeds and the 100ml of water to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes, then strain of the water and mix the seeds through the salting cucumber.

Finally pour the pickling liquor over the cucumber dice and leave for a minimum of 24 hours before serving.

Plate up one ‘pavé’ with a roche of the chilled horseradish cream and garnish with Avruga caviar and salad leaves dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.