HO!! Gather ye round, my friends, and let me share with you a simplicity of the centuries. But, before I tell, see if you can guess.

What is pink and soft and delicious all over? What is a glory for breakfast, a smash at supper and a zap hors d'oeuvre? What is fast becoming a legend and an institution and is that rare perfect combination of all things good?

If you have not guessed yet, here is the absolute giveaway. It is often associated with bagels and cream cheese. What can one say about LOX that hasn't already been said?

Making lox is as easy as mixing salt and sugar . . . did you know that? I will always marvel at how anything that simple can be so good. Lox, of course, is salmon preserved in brine. Add dill weed and you have the Gravad Lax, an excellent hors d'oeuvre, taken from the Swedish smorgasbord.

Combine it with onions and tomatoes and you have the extraordinary appetizer fashioned after the Hawaiian Lomi Lomi. And, of course, it can be served "natural" on black bread with creamy butter.

An important point to remember is that the salmon be brushed ever so LIGHTLY, but thoroughly, with salad oil, after it is preserved. Cut it in very thin slices and please use a very sharp knife.

Basic Lox

4 to 5 pound selection of salmon, skinned and boned into 2 filets
1/2 cup coarse (Kosher-style) salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon white pepper, optional

Ask the man at the fish store to skin and bone the salmon and cut it into 2 filets. Use a loaf-size glass pan.

Mix together the salt, sugar and pepper. Rub this mixture on both sides of the filets. Lay one filet over the other reversing ends. (Place thick end of one filet over the thin end of the other.) Cover with wax paper and then foil and weigh down with some heavy juice cans.

Refrigerate for 4 to 5 days. Baste now and again with the salty juices that have formed. Remove salmon from the pan and brush lightly with some salad oil to prevent drying. Slice thin and serve with bagels and cream cheese. Lox will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

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Gravad Lax

To BASIC LOX add 1/4 cup fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dried dill weed. Do not use fresh dill that has become twiggy. Scrape dill off before serving. Serve as an hors d'oeuvre with Dill Sauce on wafer-thin black bread.

Dill Sauce

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup salad oil
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed (or to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine oils. Mix together the vinegar and the sugar. Gradually add oils, beating until mixture is thickened. Add dill and taste for salt and pepper. Makes about 3/4 cup sauce.

Lox with Tomatoes & Onions

1/4 pound lox, shredded
1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped, use the green tops too
1 tablespoon salad oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Serve with cocktail size slices of rye bread or pumpernickel.