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- Path: decwrl!recipes
- From: echrzanowski@watmath.waterloo.edu (Edward Chrzanowski)
- Newsgroups: alt.gourmand
- Subject: RECIPE: Polish Wigilia 1/13: Fish in horseradish sauce
- Message-ID: <12214@decwrl.DEC.COM>
- Date: 14 Dec 87 19:39:35 GMT
- Sender: recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM
- Distribution: alt
- Organization: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Lines: 110
- Approved: reid@decwrl.dec.com
-
-
- Copyright (C) 1987 USENET Community Trust
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-
- .RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE WIGILIA-1 M "1 Dec 87" 1987
- .RZ "RYBA W SOSIE CHRZANOWYM" "Fish in horseradish sauce"
- This recipe is the first of the 12 dishes that make up the traditional Polish
- Chrismas-eve meal, which is eaten after sundown on Christmas eve.
- The Polish word for "Christmas eve" is \fIWigilia\fR (pronounced
- VI-gee-lee-ah). Its root is like the English "vigil": waiting for Christ to
- be born. At the end of the Wigilia meal the family goes off to midnight mass
- at church.
- .PP
- There are usually 12 dishes in a Wigilia meal to symbolize the 12
- apostles, though some families serve 13 because they include Christ in their
- count. The meal starts when the first star can be seen; this symbolizes the
- star of Bethlehem. Although The Wigilia is meatless (Advent, the season of
- penance, continues until
- midnight), it is still festive and delicious. The tradition of Wigilia,
- though centuries old, is still current in Poland. There is no fixed set of
- rules for what the 12 (or 13) dishes must be; the items in the meal
- change somewhat according to location and availability of ingredients.
- Nevertheless, all of the dishes are traditional, and in addition
- there are many traditions for the serving of the meal. For example, some
- people place straw under the tablecloth to symbolize the manger in which
- Christ was born. Most families set an extra place, for the stranger who might
- be passing by. This is my family's traditional Wigilia meal:
- .RS
- .nf
- Fish in horseradish sauce
- Pike Polish style
- Pickled beets
- Pickled herring in sour cream
- Stewed sauerkraut with mushrooms
- Christmas eve kutia
- Almond soup
- Noodles with poppy seed and raisins
- Poppy-seed rolls
- Christmas bread
- Baked apples with red wine
- Marzipan
- 12-fruit compote
- .RE
- .fi
- With this first recipe you will notice a similarity
- with my last name. Now you know a word of Polish (namely chrzan = horseradish
- ie. "hot stuff").
- .IH "Serves 6"
- .SH FISH
- .IG "2" "carrots"
- .IG "2" "stalks celery"
- .IG "1" "parsley root"
- .IG "1" "onion,"
- quartered
- .IG "5" "peppercorns"
- .IG "1" "bay leaf"
- .IG "2 tsp" "salt" "10 ml"
- .IG "6 cups" "water" "1.5 l"
- .IG "2 lbs" "fish fillets" "1 kg"
- (carp, sole, pike or similar fillets)
- .SH SAUCE
- .IG "3 Tbsp" "butter" "50 g"
- .IG "3 Tbsp" "flour" "50 ml"
- .IG "\(34 cup" "prepared cream-style horseradish" "200 ml"
- .IG "1 tsp" "sugar" "5 ml"
- .IG "\(14 tsp" "salt" "1 ml"
- .IG "2/3 cup" "sour cream" "150 ml"
- .IG "2" "hard-cooked eggs,
- peeled and sieved
- .PH
- .SK 1
- Combine vegetables, dry seasonings, and water in a saucepan or pot. Bring
- to a boil; simmer 20 minutes, then strain.
- .SK 2
- Cook fish in the strained vegetable stock 6 to 10 minutes, or until fish
- flakes easily.
- .SK 3
- Remove fish from stock. Arrange on serving platter and cover with plastic
- wrap. Chill.
- .SK 4
- Strain fish stock and reserve \(34 cup for horseradish sauce; cool.
- .SK 5
- For horseradish sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, then blend in flour
- until smooth, making what the French would call a roux.
- .SK 6
- Add the cooked fish stock gradually, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until
- the sauce boils and becomes thick and smooth.
- .SK 7
- Remove from heat and stir in horseradish, sugar, salt, sour cream, and eggs.
- Cool for 15 minutes.
- .SK 8
- Pour the horseradish sauce over the chilled fish, and garnish with shredded
- lettuce.
- .SH RATING
- .I Difficulty:
- moderate.
- .I Time:
- 1 hour.
- .I Precision:
- approximate measurement OK. Experiment.
- .WR
- Original recipe passed down through the generations and
- translated from Polish into English (with a few mods) by
- Edward Chrzanowski
- MFCF, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- echrzanowski@watmath.waterloo.edu or {ihnp4,allegra,utzoo}!watmath!echrzanowski
-