Text 17865, 84 rader
Skriven 2007-07-11 18:53:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: BIRD NEST  70704
========================
 Hi, Glen,

 ml-> Question to ponder. Why is the former Soviet Union, home to
 ml-> shortages and unspeakable poverty, the source for some very
 ml-> interesting recipes?

 BF> Because it's home to shortages and unspeakable poverty?  Like China
 BF> used to be?

 GJ> I wonder just how bad things really were during the USSR period.  I
 GJ> suspect that the "Western" ideas of life in the "East" were coloured
 GJ> by the propaganda merchants of the governments of the time.  From my
 GJ> observations of some of the former satellite countries of the USSR,
 GJ> life there during those times was nowhere near as bad as was painted.

 Not just propagandist governments, I had it from
 the horse's mouth, as it were, BUT... The Polish
 post-doc we had join our lab for a year in the
 early 1980s did gripe about the people being
 unable to get any meat on a regular basis, and
 it sounded so pitiful as though most people were
 underfed chronically. But I asked, "What about
 chickens?" He replied, "Oh, chickens, we can get
 those anytime!"  Ha! He'd been complaining about
 the variety, not the overall availability. I guess
 the Polish government was exporting a lot of the
 good pork products like Polish Hams and sausages,
 for outside currency and maybe to please the USSR.
 But the people weren't starving for meat, just short
 on their favorites.

 Maybe local fish were quite available, too.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

      Title: Ryba W Sosie Chrzanowym (Fish in Horseradish Sauce)
 Categories: Polish, Canadian, Carp
      Yield: 6 Servings

           FISH:
      2    Carrots
      2    Celery rib
      1    Parsley root
      1    Onion; quartered
      5    Peppercorns
      1    Bay leaf
      2 ts Salt
      6 c  Water
      2 lb Fish fillets (carp, sole,
           -pike or similar fillets)
           SAUCE:
      3 tb Butter
      3 tb Flour
    3/4 c  Horseradish, prepared
      1 ts Sugar
    1/4 ts Salt
    2/3 c  Sour cream
      2    Egg, hard-cooked; peeled &
           -sieved

  Combine vegetables, dry seasonings, and water in a saucepan or pot.
  Bring to a boil; simmer 20 minutes, then strain. Cook fish in the
  strained vegetable stock 6 to 10 minutes, or until fish flakes easily.
  Remove fish from stock.  Arrange on serving platter and cover with
  plastic wrap.  Chill.

  Strain fish stock and reserve 3/4 cup for horseradish sauce; cool. For
  horseradish sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, then blend in flour
  until smooth, making what the French would call a roux. Add the cooked
  fish stock gradually, stirring constantly.  Cook and stir until the
  sauce boils and becomes thick and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in
  horseradish, sugar, salt, sour cream, and eggs. Cool for 15 minutes.
  Pour the horseradish sauce over the chilled fish, and garnish with
  shredded lettuce.

  Original recipe passed down through the generations and translated
  from Polish into English (with a few mods) by Edward Chrzanowski
  rec.food.recipes archives

MMMMM
 Joan
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