Smithy,
1. Yes it's roe. Trout roe.
Potted prawns or crab is very simple to make. Warm butter (use the best you can find) gently in a small saucepan. Add to the prawns or crab meat some seasoning and/or or spices and herbs of your choice (nutmeg and mace are popular additions traditionally). Press crab meat or prawns down in a bowl. Strain the butter then pour it over the whole thing. Sprinkle over it some snipped chives/paprika powder/anything you fancy really. Chill til butter is set (about 2 hours?).
2. To cure the salmon I used more sugar than salt. With practice you'll know how much of what goes in the marinade to your liking. I use the scotch I drink (Aberlour 12 years double cask matured) which is not extremely smokey and peaty. I think that kind of scotch would be nice, too. Will try that next time for sure. Chopped dill, lots of it. I like my Gravadlax soft so overnight curing in the fridge is long enough. The longer it sits in the marinade the harder it becomes and that also makes it a bit harder to slice. Remove all the marinade and wipe the fish dry. Press (Sichuan) pepercorns (can be coarsely ground) to the fish. I cover it with cling film and put it back in the fridge for a little while as I like mine just a bit cold when I'm ready to eat.
Practice with this simple recipe here. They use gin or vodka but you can use scotch, of course. Also experiment with adding peppercorns to the marinade.
