No. 1311 — Whole Stuffed Boiled Pike with Sour-Cream Sauce
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 1311 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Clean a pike and cut along the backbone. Carefully remove the flesh and bones without cutting the skin, leaving head and tail intact.
Debone, salt and mince the flesh with onion fried in ½ spoonful of butter, a half white roll soaked in ½ glass of milk, the pike's liver and milt, four or five crushed allspice and black peppercorns each, about ⅛ nutmeg, at least a teaspoon of salt, ½ spoonful of butter, two yolks and a spoonful of chopped dill.
Mix well or pound in a mortar; stuff the fish skin and sew tightly.
Boil roots, spices, bones and salt to make stock, strain and cool. Wrap the pike in thin cloth and lower it into enough stock just to cover. From boiling, cook about half an hour by the old method.
Drain the broth into another pan and keep the fish warm over steam. Remove its cloth and threads carefully.
Cook peeled potatoes in the strained fish broth. Fry half a chopped onion in one spoonful of butter, add ⅔ glass of flour and thin with two to three glasses of broth.
Boil thoroughly, add one or two glasses of sour cream, enough to make at least four glasses of sauce, and bring to the boil.
Return the potatoes and fish to the sauce and warm. Serve in a deep dish with parsley and dill.
If desired add six cleaned and cooked champignons sliced and fried in butter to the sauce.
To provide
One 3-Russian-pound pike and 2–3 onions ¼ Russian pound of butter and ½ French white roll 15–20 allspice berries and 4–5 black peppercorns | Nutmeg, salt and 1 egg 2 carrots, 1 parsley root and 2 celery roots 1 leek and ½ garnets' measure of potatoes ⅔ glass of flour and 1–2 glasses of sour cream Parsley and dill |