Category: fish

Sauerkraut and Fish Salad. Hapukapsa-kalasalat

hapukapsakalasalat (13)Homemade Sauerkraut, Fermented Cabbage, Hapukapsas is a very important and popular dish in Estonia during autumn and winter time and mandatory food during Christmas time.

In ancient time, Hapukapsas and cranberries were only sources of C vitamin, during wintertime.
Sauerkraut is a fermented food and this is not the only a source of vitamin, this is the source of the probiotic bacterium and this is excellent for your health.

One wonderful salad recipe.
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Seto Summer Fish and Strawberry Salad. Seto kala ja maasikasalat

fishstrawsalad (2)This is a classical Seto salad.  Traditionally it is made with herring, but I got freshly smoked Peipsi Lake vendace …

Look at this! See, if it is not appetizing : ) 🙂

A combination of strawberries and fish may seem strange. But sour and sweet berries complement saltness of fish very well. The onion adds a structure and a sparkle.
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And rye bread. This is just a base. The heart of this salad.

  • Cleanse fish. Herring or other smoked and salty fish
  • Toast rye bread and cut into slices
  • Cut strawberries into slices
  • Chop chives
  • Chop (red) onion. If you are going to use “white” onion, I suggest to marinate it for a couple of the minutes in strawberry juice.fish (7) For salad dressing
    season sour cream with pepper and (taste your fish !!) with salt.

And some horseradish makes it even better…fishstrawsalad (4)fishstrawsalad (12)

Smoked Baltic Herring Pie. Suitsuräimepirukas

suitsuraimepirukas (4)Baltic Herrings are Estonian national fish.

And especially I love smoked Baltic herrings. Of Course, you are free to use any other fish. But to achieve Estonian flavours you should pick Baltic herrings and prepare dough from rye flour.

Rye flour gives for bottom little bit sweet and caramel taste. The sweetness of rye suits perfectly with saltines of fish.

 

 

 

 

 

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Fish in newspaper

I got this idea from Jamie Oliver. And it sounded very intriguing to me. Is it really possible to grill fish in the newspaper? And yes, this is possible. And the result is juicy and delicious.

 

 


Clean a fish. Using a sharp knife, make a shallow cut from here along the belly of the fish, stopping at the base of the gills. Use your fingers or a dull spoon to scoop out the fish’s innards.
Fill fish with a bit of the oil, leek, lime and dill. Season with pepper and salt.
Wrap a fish in a double newspaper paper. Dip package into the water ( do not soak! Just for a minute), and start grilling.

Baking time depends on fish. But it takes for 15-20 minutes. But check by time to time!

 

 

Beetroot and Herring Salad. Rosolje

rosolje1(1)Rosolje is a traditional salad, as Estonian Potato Salad, where all families has their own recipe.

For sure it contains  beetroot. And as says name ” rosol” (means (in Russian) cucumber brine,)  salted/marinated/fermented cucumbers is very important, as well.

Usually we make this with salted /marinated herring. But I have eaten Rosolje without herring and with meat or without meat and fish, as well.

Rosolje second meaning in Estonian is mess, diverse, colorful. So, this is my recipe

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Baltic Herring and Potato Casserole. Räime ja kartulivorm

raimevorm1 (2)The Baltic herring is one of the most important fish in the whole of the Baltic Sea and the Estonians’ feeder for centuries.

In 2007 the Baltic herring was announced the national Estonian Fish. The Baltic herring is such an everyday fish for us and believe me, we have a lot of recipe books like ” 100 dishes from Baltic herring”.

Since Baltic Herring are cheap fish, she had a reputation for many years as a poor human food. But because of delicious taste this reputation is gone. And from early spring to late autumn, Baltic Herring is mandatory part of Estonian cuisine.

Especially in spring, because the spring Baltic herring is big, fat and delicious.

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Simple Fish with Dill and Tomatoes. Lihtne kala tilli ja tomatiga

kala tilliga1 (2)Only 3 ingredients.

Simple dinner where ripe and sweet tomatoes complemented with dill gives for fish beautiful flavour. Very easy to do. And salad is already included 🙂

I like pure clean flavours.
I have had period I used a lot of different spices. I have had period I used a lot of different herbs. Mixed different ingredients and flavours.

Now I am appreciating that fish tastes like fish and I can feel flavour of tomatoes and dill 🙂

 

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Simple Salmon Pie. Lõhepirukas

l6hepirukas1 (15)
Simple Salmon Pie. Lõhepirukas

Last year I wrote a lot of about Estonian Christmas customs. But New Year eve NÄÄRID  is very important as well.  During Soviet times (1945- 1987)  Christmas was prohibited and was only New year eve.
Today we have two amazing holiday 🙂
New year eve was as was Christmas perfect time for predictions.
What is maybe interesting and different:
On 31 December there are special (humor) TV shows  on all Estonian TV channels, causing a lot of discussion afterwards (Which program was better? Why? etc.).
One more tradition is, that The President of the Republic delivers a speech on radio and TV during the last minutes of the old year.

As probably everywhere New Year is greeted with fireworks and drinking sparkling wine. People wish a Happy New Year (Head uut aastat!) to each other. And it is a good sign when the first New Year wishes are said by a man with dark hair 🙂

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Simple Fish Soup

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Simple Fish Soup. http://www.estoniancuisine.com

Sunday morning. 7 o clock.
The Cat jumped on the bed ” Krrr…. lazy bums, the sun is shining, wake up…”
I pulled blanket over the head. I had the intention to sleep at least 4 more hours…
But.. for my amazement, my husband woke up and left from bed room…
Some time later, I realized, that I have to go.

On the couch sat next to each other, Man and Cat. Eyes are glued to the TV screen. Watching racing cars..

It was not “Krrr”,  it was ” Frrrr… formula 1 ” 🙂

Simple and quick everyday fish soup.

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