No. 140 — Assorted Fish Selyanka (Solyanka)
Complete English translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 140 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original quantities, preparation and source.
Clean the fresh fish and remove the fillets. Prepare a stock from white roots, onion, pepper, bay leaf, a bunch of greens and the skin, bones and head of the fish. Strain and thicken with flour fried in butter.
Add lightly fried pickled porcini mushrooms, capers, olives and gherkins. Twenty minutes before serving bring the soup to the boil, add the fresh fish fillets and cook them.
When the fish is done, put in salted fish cooked separately, crayfish tails and lemon juice to taste. For color add one spoonful of tomato purée fried in butter and a pinch of chopped fresh parsley. Mix gently, transfer to a soup tureen and serve.
To provide
6–8 ruffe; ¾ Russian pound of whitefish and ¾ pound of pike-perch ¾ Russian pound of salted sturgeon, white salmon, beluga or starry sturgeon ½ Russian pound of white roots and 2 onions 1–3 bay leaves and 3–6 peppercorns; a bunch of greens ½ glass of flour; about 20 crayfish tails | 1 spoonful of butter and 1 spoonful of tomato purée 6–8 teaspoons of cream (as printed; the instructions do not mention it) 6–8 small spoonfuls of gherkins and 6–8 of capers 8–12 pickled porcini mushrooms, ½ lemon and a pinch of parsley |