Pike has been known since time immemorial - it has been revered in many countries literally from the Middle Ages. How to cook pike - there have always been many different ways. You can make paste from it, you can stew or fry it, you can eat this fish with crab sauce or just sauerkraut, make stew with anchovy sauce from it, serve it in a boiled form with mayonnaise, smoked and salted.
In ancient times, in medieval books, this fish was called the Knight with a Sharp Snout. So, this “knight” has lean and at the same time very tasty meat, which allowed the monks to use it as an ideal meal during fasting. Moreover, in 1100, at the Salerno Medical School, pike was recognized as the most useful fish of all existing, and many taverns in European countries knew how to cook pike.
At all times, gourmets recognized the liver of pike as the most, most refined delicacy. Her taste was enjoyed in the most aristocratic houses of Europe. However, the pike is most likely worthy of the title not of a knight, but of a highwayman. Lurking in the algae, she patiently waits for her prey, rushing at lightning speed for the fish passing by and grabbing it.
The teeth of the pike are bent back, so the brush or perch that fell into her mouth will not be able to escape. I remember how I also caught a pike, like a perch. I was a little girl, and my grandfather took me fishing. Once he caught a pike, pulled it into a boat and left it at the bottom. I put a finger in my open mouth - just out of curiosity, and she closed her jaw ... It is no wonder that a large fish can even catch waterfowl.
One day, grandfather hardly brought home a pike he had caught, almost two meters long and twenty kilograms in weight! We then thought for a long time how to cook a pike, and decided that it is delicious to cook a pike so large, in which the meat is already a little tough, you can, stuffing portioned pieces with pieces of bacon.
Grandfather cooked the caught fish himself. Telling me “Look, Adelka, how to cook a pike deliciously”, he gutted a fish (inside her we found a rather large perch and gave it to a cat), cut it into portions, made cuts in them and put pieces of pork lard in them and garlic. In a deep frying pan, he heated the melted pork fat and poured a little water. The grandfather rubbed the pieces laden with garlic and garlic with salt, sprinkled them with pepper and - abundantly - ground coriander, then rolled them in wheat flour and put the pieces in a frying pan.
At first the fire on the stove was strong, and then, when the mouth-watering smell appeared in the kitchen, they left only a small light and so they languished the fish for an hour and a half. The tantalizing aromas of the upcoming pike were carried around the house and even throughout the street, literally driving crazy the nearby cats and nearest neighbors who did not hesitate to look into the house - just to say hello. It is clear that the cooked dish was eaten too quickly ...
I remembered my grandfather's cooking lessons for life and know perfectly well how to cook pike, perhaps no worse than professional chefs. But how to cook stuffed pike.
Strictly speaking, instead of pike in this case, you can take mullet or pike perch, but the pike will still be better, although as you like. This recipe is how to cook a stuffed pike, old-fashioned and time-tested by me and myself. So it is. I take one and a half kilogram of peeled pike, but always with the head - this should be enough for four.
For the filling, we take 60 grams of boiled rice, two sliced steep eggs, 15 grams of softened butter (surely, it won’t work otherwise!) And six or eight or eight pitted prunes soaked in water (you can drink as many as you like).
Topping is made from ground crackers (two tablespoons), you still need whipped whites, a little sea salt and white pepper (I take a third of a teaspoon), you also need butter cut with thin plastic.
Now the fun part. The fish must be dried with a paper towel prepared by the filling (except for prunes), loosely fill the pike cavity, and put prunes on top of the filling. I sew the edges with a strong thread. Now you need to take a heat-resistant pan of such a size that the fish barely entered it in a rolled up form, grease its bottom and walls with butter and stuff the pike in such a way that the tail is in her mouth - I saw it, they do it in Finland. From above, fish should be greased with egg whites and sprinkled with breadcrumbs, pepper and salt. Do not forget to put pieces of oil in a pan!
After that, the dish can be put in a well-heated oven (180 degrees) and bake for an hour and a half. Willingness is defined very simply: if during this time you can not go crazy with delicious teasing aromas, just pull the fin. If it separates easily, the dish is ready.
Serve directly in the pan, after removing the thread. You can put salad on the side dish. Try to feed your husband with such a dish - you will see what will happen ...