Dried Fish and Beer

[Ulysses]

How exactly is the dried fish prepared? How is it consumed, as a snack or a dish? What (if any) variety of fish are particular to Ukraine?

[Zbyszek]

Hi Ulysses I think Tartars used to be masters in drying meat and fish. The ability of conserving the food was one of factors enabling them to conquer Kievan Rus. Maybe Batukhan posting here from time to time could be helpful. I regret that he does not post now. His jocular posts were a good entertainment.

[NZman]

Originally posted by Zbyszek
Hi Ulysses I think Tartars used to be masters in drying meat and fish. The ability of conserving the food was one of factors enabling them to conquer Kievan Rus. Maybe Batukhan posting here from time to time could be helpful. I regret that he does not post now. His jocular posts were a good entertainment.

Wrong again Pollack you should read about the first fast food nation to find out how they ate on the rampage.

Love the NZman

[NZman]

Originally posted by Ulysses
How exactly is the dried fish prepared? How is it consumed, as a snack or a dish? What (if any) variety of fish are particular to Ukraine?

There are as many ways of preparing it, as they are fish eaten this way.

One of the dudes who I used to work with did this
He lined a steal box with salt, dropped in any fresh water fish covered it in salt, put a lid on it and left it in the sun.

Unlike the Pollack I ain't an expert on Ukraine, but in my experience which ain't worth a rams dags it's only eaten as an accompaniment to beer. Fish For Beer... Quite a few of the less tourist bars sell it in Kyiv. Well they did the last time I was there.

Love the NZman

[Kathy]

Instructions from my husband - fisherman extraordinaire, who has dried a lot of fish in his day.

First, the fish are cleaned, then heavily salted. Then, each fish is rolled in a very light cotton which allows breathing. The cotton is to ensure flies don't lay eggs on the fish. The fish are then layered in a special type of bucket most Ukrainians use for this, with one fish, then a layer of salt, another fish and a layer of salt, etc., and then fully covered with salt. It is then left for several days.

In a pinch at the river, the cotton may be dispensed with, at one's own risk.

Many eat dried fish with beer, but lots of Ukrainain men eat it when drinking vodka, too (fish or pickles). My husband doesn't drink, and in the days when he ate fish, he ate dried fish sans alcohol. His mother and sister eat it without beer too.

There are a lot of varieties of fish in Ukraine - depends on the region, but I can't tell you what they are, as most of those described are not indigenous to my region of the world, so I only know their names in Ukrainian.

[VadimKotlyar]

Go to the russian food store and buy some "Taran".

My old folks like to drink it down with Obolon Ukranian beer.

[fishcantscream]

http://www.nofishing.net