My passion for salmon started with my father who fished the Spey in Scotland for salmon every year for c. 60 years. Sometimes we went with him and seeing him in the middle of a fast flowing river in his waders was fascinating for a young boy. Sadly, I did not possess his skills for fly fishing, let alone his diligence in making his own flies which he had a wooden box full of all different sizes and colours to lure fish in different conditions.  Each September he would pack the car and make the 8-10 hour drive to Grantown-on-Spey for his week of fly fishing and a week later he'd arrive back with a boot load of salmon on ice. He'd hot smoke some in the garage (much to my mother's dismay as it stank!), he'd freeze some and cure the rest. And it was the Gravalax that was always the biggest hit. We'd have it at Christmas, dinner parties, summer parties - anytime we could in fact, although there was limited supply based on what he'd caught that year. When he died in 2021 (sadly much too early for a very fit man who was still fishing and building things) I vowed I would carry on the tradition and so here we are. It's a bit of fun and a nod to Charlie, the best Dad you could hope for, who taught me so much. Cheers Charlie and let's Max The Gravalax !