happy easter bunnies

The weather in London this weekend is grey and overcast, but inside our flat the mood is bright, festive and foodtastic.

For this week's challenge, I wanted to do something that was traditional Easter fare, and something completely different for me. I did a load of research, and finally settled on Gravadlax. This is a traditional Scandinavian dish dating back to at least the middle ages, when Norsemen would bury salmon in holes in the sand, cover them with salt and leave them to cure. According to my friend Wiki, the term Gravadlax literally translates to "salmon dug into the ground".

It seems to be a food eaten traditionally at Easter, though presumably it's also enjoyed all year round. I know we'll be having it more regularly! The thing I love about it is the anticipation. It's a pretty easy recipe, to be honest, but the trick is in leaving it for three days. I flipped it faithfully every 8 hours, which despite some dispute seemed to be the general consensus, and kept wanting to try it.

I served the gravadlax two ways - just on its own with hovmästarsås (I read somewhere that this translates to Head Waiter sauce because traditionally the head waiter would mix the sauce in front of you, at your table). I also served it as part of our Easter Sunday brunch - with soft poached eggs, home made white bread and the mustard sauce. I also served some bircher muesli, fruit and hot cross buns.

After the gravadlax, I served a lamb roast, another traditional Easter dish, with all the trimmings.

For dessert, I made a bread and butter pudding out of hot cross buns, and gave it an orange chocolate twist in honour of Easter's chocolatey reputation.