Fans of fish dishes will diversify their menu with a dish of old Russian cuisine that has been preserved since ancient times, and is a healthy one, known since the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Today, culinary specialists prepare fish from the body in the form of zrazy of an unusual shape resembling a crescent. However, the ancient recipe for this dish was very different from its modern version, and during its history it underwent significant metamorphoses.

What is the body of fish, the history of origin

In Russia during the early Middle Ages, the range of fish dishes was quite diverse. Not meat, namely fish, was the main product for dishes of the Russian menu. One of these dishes is telnoe. Historical sources indicate that the fish one is a dish that was served as one of the main dishes for the festive table in Russia. And initially it was considered exclusively a fish dish.

The origin of the term "bodily" has several versions.

The most popular are two of them:

  1. During fasting days, Orthodox monks were allowed to eat wine, bread, symbolizing the blood and body of Christ, as well as fish, that is, "corpulent".
  2. For cooking, fish fillet or minced meat from it, in other words the body, is used.

Comprehensive information on the interpretation of the term “body” is provided by the Dictionary of Cooking, Minion, Candidate and Distillator (1795–1797). It says that to prepare this dish you will need to purchase pike and pike perch. According to the cooking technology, you must first remove the skin and bones, in other words, milling fish. Then the resulting fish fillet had to be “beaten with a knife butcher”. At the same time, the fillet was periodically wetted with a special composition for bonding.To obtain this composition, the flour was diluted with water to a liquid state. Then prepared in this way milled fish meat was tightly tied with a wet towel and boiled in boiling water, and then fried in oil. Another option - boiled whole was chopped with the addition of various spices and onions and used as a filling for baking or stuffing. Based on this description, the second version of the origin of the term “bodily” seems to be more probable.

 

In the memoirs of foreign diplomats and travelers of that time, there is often information about skilled chefs who can cook whole fish so that its taste resembles the meat of chickens, geese, lambs, ducklings and other animals. Moreover, the dish was given the appearance of these animals. It looked beautiful and festive.

There were recipes for cooking fish and for everyday use. For example, pancakes are real when a cake was simply baked from minced fish, manually knocked down in a mortar.

It is curious that there were no analogues of this dish in world cuisine of those times. Stuffed fish only looked superficially resembling, but had significant differences in recipe, structure and density. However, under the influence of European cuisine, the dish gradually changed. For example, a recipe for a body cake appears. It uses minced meat of two different fish, one of which wraps the other. The recipe for this dish was published in the book “Lean cook or preparation of various lean dishes”. The publication dates from 1796.

Later, under the influence of French national cuisine, telnoe is already used for cooking small French pastes - pastry-filled forms from pastry. The dish is becoming more sophisticated. Indeed, according to Russian tradition, the serving of the dish on the table was monolithic: a whole fish, duck, piglet. And finely chopped dishes are a tribute to new fashion trends.

Starting from the twentieth century, the term "body" gradually began to disappear from use. The recipe has transformed into a modern version of fish cakes in the shape of a crescent with a filling inside. Although back in the first half of the twentieth century, a combination of minced meat with pieces of fish was a prerequisite for the proper preparation of the body, the form of the dish did not matter.

Ideas for a beautiful serving

In ancient times, whole fish was considered a festive dish. He was served in the form of various animals to the table of the royal family, treated to ambassadors and eminent people. It was not only delicious in taste, but also looked very elegant and appetizing.

 

Body of fish, cooked in its modern interpretation, and today can take its rightful place on the festive table. For a beautiful serving, you will need a dish, fresh herbs, various vegetables that can be used both fresh and pickled. Can be used as decoration olives, capers, lemon slices.

For everyday use, the finished dish is sprinkled with finely chopped fresh herbs. Serve with or without garnish, but certainly with sauce.

What sauces and side dishes should be served with fish

In the book "The Practical Basics of Culinary Art", published in 1912, Pelageya Aleksandrova-Ignatieva recommends adding fish to the one with green peas or potatoes as a side dish. Aleksandrova-Ignatieva offers to serve white or tomato sauce from the sauces to this dish.

 

The modern version of this dish also goes well with most vegetables in any form. But, since today the whole fish is cooked with various fillings, this should be taken into account when choosing a side dish. For example, if cooked whole fish contains potato filling, then do not serve potatoes on the side dish. Fresh or pickled vegetables are recommended in this case.

But the sauce for such a dish should be served. And it is advisable to prepare it well in advance so that it can be infused.In addition to the traditional white and tomato sauce, tomato sauce with vegetables, white hot sauce and onion sauce are recommended. When cold, telar sauce perfectly complements tartar sauce.

The technology of cooking fish body with mushrooms

Today, the old Russian dish cookery is prepared in the form of zrazy with all kinds of fillings, the most popular of which is mushroom filling.

For stuffing you will need:

  • pollock fillet (any other fish with a white body is also suitable) - 450 g;
  • white bread - 60 g;
  • cream with a fat content of 33% - 120 ml;
  • butter - 30 g;
  • chicken egg - 3 pcs.;
  • breadcrumbs - 60 g;
  • salt and spices to taste;
  • vegetable oil for frying - 40 g.

For the filling you will need:

  • onions - 1 pc.;
  • fresh champignon mushrooms - 120 g;
  • one boiled chicken egg;
  • dill - several branches;
  • ground salt and pepper - to taste;
  • vegetable oil - 25 g.

Step-by-step instruction:

  1. Fish is milled - bones are removed and skin is removed. You can buy ready-made fillet. In this case, it should first be thawed.
  2. Prepared fillet is cut into pieces.
  3. Pass the fish through a meat grinder.
  4. The bread crumb is soaked in cream.
  5. Squeeze out excess liquid from bread.
  6. Combine the crumb with minced meat.
  7. Salt and pepper to taste.
  8. The mixture is thoroughly mixed.
  9. The resulting mixture is re-passed through a meat grinder.
  10. Softened butter is introduced into the minced meat.
  11. Knead to such a state that the meat is well separated from the walls of the dishes.
  12. Onions and mushrooms are diced and fried in a pan with the addition of vegetable oil.
  13. Chop greens and chop the peeled boiled egg and combine them with the cooled mushrooms.
  14. Salt the filling, add pepper to taste and mix gently.
  15. On wetted or lubricated with vegetable oil surfaces with wet hands form pellets of the same size about 1 cm thick from prepared minced meat.
  16. For each cake, lay the finished filling.
  17. Pinch the edges of the cakes and give each of them a crescent shape.
  18. A lezon is prepared from two eggs - eggs are beaten with a pinch of salt.
  19. The formed zrazy are dipped in the lezon, breaded in breadcrumbs and fried in a pan for 5-7 minutes.
  20. Bake in the oven, heated to 170 C, for 5 minutes.

Serve this fish dish with mushrooms separately, decorate it with greens, a slice of lemon and pour melted butter with sour cream or white sauce. Serving with garnish is also possible. In this case, the ideal option would be boiled potatoes, canned green peas, fried cauliflower or broccoli.

Cooking according to the old Slavonic recipe

It cannot be argued that this recipe exactly matches the one used by the cook during the existence of Kievan Rus, but the ingredients, as well as the method and sequence of preparation, remained original.

You will need:

  • fresh zander - 1.2–1.4 kg;
  • ham - 0.5 kg;
  • butter - 0.1 kg;
  • salt, pepper and spices to taste.

Step-by-step instruction:

  1. Pike perch is milled - separated from bones and skin.
  2. The pulp is ground in a meat grinder. You can use a blender for this purpose.
  3. Minced meat is divided into two equal parts.
  4. Finely chopped ham and 1/4 of the minced meat are fried in a pan in boiling oil.
  5. Balls are formed from 1/4 of the minced meat and they are also fried in oil in a pan.
  6. A rectangular cake is formed from the remaining meat.
  7. Fried balls and minced meat with ham are placed on the formed cake.
  8. Pinch the edges of the tortillas and form a sausage.
  9. Put the sausage on a napkin and tie it with a thread.
  10. Boil in boiling salted water for 30 minutes.
  11. Remove from water and allow to cool.
  12. Take out of the napkin.
  13. Lay on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at a temperature of 180 C until a golden crust is formed.

The dish is served hot with vegetables, with a side dish of potatoes and white, tomato or onion sauce.

Minced fish

At the current pace of life, time is not always left to prepare a complex dish. But you can also cook whole fish with the use of already prepared minced fish. For example, very juicy fish cakes in Hebrew.

You will need:

  • minced fish - 900 g;
  • chicken egg - 2 pcs.;
  • onions - 7 pcs.;
  • carrots - 1-2 pcs.;
  • breadcrumbs - 70 g;
  • vegetable oil - 45 g;
  • salt, pepper and other spices to taste.

Step-by-step instruction:

  1. Stuffing is thawed.
  2. Shredded carrots and onions are fried in vegetable oil.
  3. Raw eggs, chilled vegetables, breadcrumbs are added to the minced meat, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Stir thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
  5. Form cutlets of any shape. It is previously recommended to moisten your hands or grease them with vegetable oil.
  6. Fry in a skillet in vegetable oil until crisp.
  7. They are placed in a cauldron and stewed for 20-30 minutes or baked in an oven at a temperature of 180 C for 15-20 minutes.
  8. The dish is served hot with boiled rice and butter. Boiled potatoes are also suitable as a side dish. A combination with any vegetables is appropriate.

Body of fish is really a very tasty and healthy dish of ancient Russian cuisine with a long history. His recipe, although significantly modified, still reached our contemporaries. Today, there are analogues of it in the kitchens of different nations, but at the time of its origin, fish-based fish was a unique dish in world cuisine.

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