Radio România Internațional

Tag: fish

  • Fish recipes

    Fish recipes

    Romanians
    have just celebrated the Annunciation, an important feast day in the Christian
    calendar. It is only on this day and on Palm Sunday that practicing Orthodox
    Christians are allowed to eat fish during Lent, the fasting period before
    Easter. During Lent, all animal products are forbidden. So with this feast day
    in mind, here’s a few fish-based recipes.


    If
    you have people over for an informal meal, we recommend a cold fish platter
    with fish paste, taramasalata, fish cakes and some slices of stuffed pike. Making the taramasalata
    and the fish cakes is quite easy, but the fish paste may take a while because
    the fish filet must first be cooked in the oven on a low heat. Making the
    stuffed pike dish also requires some skill and will take a long time. It
    involves descaling and deboning the fish, then removing the skin without
    breaking it so as to be able to stuff it with a filling of minced fish,
    vegetables and spices.


    One
    fish dish that’s quite easy to make is fish soup and today we’re also giving
    you the recipe for a fish broth from the Danube Delta called storceag
    that’s made using root vegetables. To make it, you’ll need a kilo of fish
    fillet, a handful of potatoes, two carrots, one head of celeriac, two onions
    and, optionally, a couple of tomatoes and bell peppers. Start by salting the
    fish and leaving it in a cold place while you prepare the vegetables. Into a
    large 4-5 litre capacity pan place the finely chopped carrots and celeriac together
    with the onion, which can be either whole or chopped, the potatoes, diced, and,
    if you’re using them, the sliced tomatoes and peppers. Rinse the fish fillet of
    the salt, dice it and place it in the pan, bringing it to boil and then simmering
    it for at least 15 minutes. Add a dash of lemon juice and, when the broth is
    almost done, mix the yolk of one egg with a few spoonfuls of sour cream and then
    pour it into the pan. Finally, add a few sprigs of finely chopped dill. Remove
    the pan from the heat, cover it and let it sit for a few minutes until the
    flavours have seeped in and then serve.


    As a
    main dish, we suggest stuffed roast carp. For this recipe, you’ll need a 2 kg
    carp. Descale, debone and rinse the fish before sprinkling it with salt, inside
    and out. Now to create the filling of mushrooms and rice with which to stuff
    the fish. To make the filling you’re going to need about half a kilo of
    mushrooms, half a kilo of tomatoes, one cup of rice, two onions, a head of
    garlic, some fresh parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Slice the mushrooms
    and the onion and fry them gently in oil, then add a splash of water and cook a
    little before adding the rice, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour some tomato juice
    and some white wine into the roasting tin and place the carp inside, using the
    pan juices to baste the fish while it cooks. Roast until golden. Poftă bună!

    Let us know if you’ve tried any of our recipes yourselves and what else you’d
    like to know about Romanian cuisine. (Tr.: CM)

  • Fish recipes

    Fish recipes

    Romanians
    have just celebrated the Annunciation, an important feast day in the Christian
    calendar. It is only on this day and on Palm Sunday that practicing Orthodox
    Christians are allowed to eat fish during Lent, the fasting period before
    Easter. During Lent, all animal products are forbidden. So with this feast day
    in mind, here’s a few fish-based recipes.


    If
    you have people over for an informal meal, we recommend a cold fish platter
    with fish paste, taramasalata, fish cakes and some slices of stuffed pike. Making the taramasalata
    and the fish cakes is quite easy, but the fish paste may take a while because
    the fish filet must first be cooked in the oven on a low heat. Making the
    stuffed pike dish also requires some skill and will take a long time. It
    involves descaling and deboning the fish, then removing the skin without
    breaking it so as to be able to stuff it with a filling of minced fish,
    vegetables and spices.


    One
    fish dish that’s quite easy to make is fish soup and today we’re also giving
    you the recipe for a fish broth from the Danube Delta called storceag
    that’s made using root vegetables. To make it, you’ll need a kilo of fish
    fillet, a handful of potatoes, two carrots, one head of celeriac, two onions
    and, optionally, a couple of tomatoes and bell peppers. Start by salting the
    fish and leaving it in a cold place while you prepare the vegetables. Into a
    large 4-5 litre capacity pan place the finely chopped carrots and celeriac together
    with the onion, which can be either whole or chopped, the potatoes, diced, and,
    if you’re using them, the sliced tomatoes and peppers. Rinse the fish fillet of
    the salt, dice it and place it in the pan, bringing it to boil and then simmering
    it for at least 15 minutes. Add a dash of lemon juice and, when the broth is
    almost done, mix the yolk of one egg with a few spoonfuls of sour cream and then
    pour it into the pan. Finally, add a few sprigs of finely chopped dill. Remove
    the pan from the heat, cover it and let it sit for a few minutes until the
    flavours have seeped in and then serve.


    As a
    main dish, we suggest stuffed roast carp. For this recipe, you’ll need a 2 kg
    carp. Descale, debone and rinse the fish before sprinkling it with salt, inside
    and out. Now to create the filling of mushrooms and rice with which to stuff
    the fish. To make the filling you’re going to need about half a kilo of
    mushrooms, half a kilo of tomatoes, one cup of rice, two onions, a head of
    garlic, some fresh parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Slice the mushrooms
    and the onion and fry them gently in oil, then add a splash of water and cook a
    little before adding the rice, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour some tomato juice
    and some white wine into the roasting tin and place the carp inside, using the
    pan juices to baste the fish while it cooks. Roast until golden. Poftă bună!

    Let us know if you’ve tried any of our recipes yourselves and what else you’d
    like to know about Romanian cuisine. (Tr.: CM)

  • Fish on a Bed of Vegetables

    This recipe, fish on a bed of vegetables, applies to any fish that goes well in the oven, blending the aroma of baked fish with the flavor of baked vegetables and of herbs and spices. If you cook fish that are around one pound in weight, about half a kilogram, then this recipe involves four of them. You also need a few potatoes, two or three courgettes or zucchinis, a few tomatoes, one red pepper or capsicum, two onions, two carrots, a bay leaf, olive oil, the juice of one lemon, a cup of wine, thyme, salt and pepper.



    The easiest way to make this is to put all the vegetables, cubed evenly, into an oiled oven dish, making a bed for the fish. Lay the well-cleaned fish on the bed of vegetables. Pour in some tomato juice and water, season to taste, and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the fish is crispy on the outside.



    A more elaborate method is to grill the vegetables. Slice thinly the courgettes and put them on the grill, alongside the whole tomatoes, then red onion, sliced. The rest of the vegetables you can bake in the oven, as described before. In this version, cook the fish separately, with a sauce made of lemon juice, pepper, thyme, bay leaves, a bit of water and salt. Pour this over the fish, then let it bake in the oven for half an hour or until well browned. Towards the end you can add in a cup of wine. Sprinkle periodically the fish with the sauce while baking. Serve with the vegetables on the side, with a garnish of lemon and parsley, and a side of polenta. It goes well with white wine. Enjoy!

  • Palm Sunday Dishes

    Palm Sunday Dishes


    Although Palm Sunday is a Lent day, when people are generally fasting, fish dishes are permitted on this day. So here are some fish-based recipes for the special Palm Sunday dinner. Well start with a couple of recipes using carp, which is readily available in Romania.



    For the first one, carp with tomato sauce, you will need around 2 kilos of carp, 5-6 tomatoes, 2-3 peppers, two onions, a head of garlic, parsley, a lemon, oil, salt and pepper. After you have cleaned, scaled and eviscerated the fish, dice it and put the pieces in an oiled pan. Salt the meat, then arrange the sliced tomatoes, peppers and onions around it. Sprinkle the finely chopped parsley on top, add lemon slices and pour a glass of wine. Everything is now ready for the oven, where it should bake for about 45 minutes, on medium heat, until the fish pieces are golden brown.



    Another recipe is a little more spectacular: skewered carp. For this recipe you will need a large, 3-4 kilo carp, which you have washed, scaled and eviscerated. Oil both on the inside and outside, and place about half a meter over an open grill by means of a metal spit. Another rod needs to be placed inside the fish, to keep the sides apart and allow the heat in. It will take around 30-40 minutes for the fish to roast. Serve hot, with garlic sauce or lemon, and of course with a glass of white, dry, well-chilled wine.



    Another proposal for this occasion is minced fish balls. You obviously need a fish with large bones, easy to pick out, such as catfish. Take one kilo of boned fish meat, two or three onions, a few cloves of garlic, two eggs, some flour, salt and pepper to taste. Some people use mashed potatoes, others use soaked stale bread, about two slices worth. By all means do not forget a whole bunch of fresh dill. Mince the fish meat. Finely chop the onion and the dill, and knead it into the minced meat with the mashed potatoes or soggy bread, eggs, and the salt and pepper, then add the garlic, finely chopped or crushed to a paste. While kneading watch out for bones you may have missed. Shape the composition into balls, douse them in flour and fry them in oil.



    Another recipe worth mentioning has become something of a rarity, because it is difficult to make in its traditional form. It is Gefilte fish, which in Romanian is known simply as “stuffed fish, and it is usually made with pike. The fish is skinned carefully to keep the skin intact, then the meat is boned and minced. It is mixed with a bit of rice and with finely chopped vegetables such as onion, carrot and green pepper. Egg yolk is added to bind the composition together. There are many variations on the ingredients, some recipes favoring sweet ingredients such as pine nuts, walnuts and raisins. Herbs such as thyme and basil are also used in many versions, and we highly recommend chopped fresh dill. After making the mix, carefully fill the skin of the fish with it, then sew it shut. Oil it and place it in an oven dish, with tomato juice and lots of garlic. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the fish is golden brown.

  • Mackerel

    Mackerel


    On March 25 Orthodox Romanians celebrate the Annunciation, when the church tradition allows fish to be eaten during Lent. This is a good opportunity for fishers to make good sales, because between April and June they cannot fish for fresh water fish. An exception is made for predatory fish, one of them being the mackerel. The mackerel is native to the Black Sea, but swims upriver to spawn, sometimes as much as 500 km. This is a highly prized catch, a tasty, oily fish between 200 and 600 grams, with an average mature length of around 30 cm. This fish can also be found in the Mediterranean, the North Sea and in coastal waters in North America. After spawning, the fish return to the sea, granted they escape fishing lines or nets.



    Mackerel can be prepared and preserved in various ways. It can be baked in the oven on a bed of vegetables. It can be pan fried with a side of sautéed mushrooms, or grilled, either on an open grill or a metal plate or sheet. However, if we were to go by popularity, by far the most sought after recipe is brined mackerel. To make that, start by scaling and gutting the fish, cleaning it carefully. Sprinkle them lavishly with rock salt and leave for at least half an hour. Wash off the salt, then make several slits in the sides of the fish. Proceed to grill the fish or cook it on a plate on the stovetop. While the fish is cooking, make the brine. Boil water with lots of salt. After bringing it to a boil, turn off the heat and mix in the crushed garlic, black pepper, thyme and sliced hot green chili. After the fish is well browned on both sides, put it in a deep dish and drown it in the brine, put on a tight lid, and leave for at least 20 minutes for the flavors to blend. When serving, garnish with fresh parsley with a side of polenta.



    You can also bake the mackerel in the oven, and it takes a special procedure. After making the slits, salt and pepper the fish, then slip inside it a bay leaf. Oil lightly a sheet of baking paper, then wrap the fish in it. Bake in the oven for about half an hour. Unwrap the fish, then squeeze over it a generous amount of lemon juice. This is usually served with a side dish of plain boiled potatoes and vegetables. It goes well with a chilled dry wine.