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IKRA - Russian eggplant caviar/Russian aubergine caviar

Someone was looking for a "soft aubergine/eggplant spread with tomatoes" and I knew exactly what they were talking about. There's a dish in Russia, our Eastern neighbour, which is called IKRA or fake caviar. I got this recipe from Russian friend Galina back in Edinburgh sometimes around 2000. Still makes a regular appearance in our kitchen.  It's lovely on a slice of toast, or as a condiment or spread on a mezze-table. Russian aubergine spread IKRA 1 large aubergine/eggplant 1 large onion 2 garlic cloves 2 tomatoes 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice salt and freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley or dill Prick the aubergine with a fork here and there, then place into a preheated 200C/400F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked and slightly charred on the outside. Flip over once or twice during baking. Remove from the oven, let it cool. Then cul half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place into a cutting b...

Bocuse d'Or, Europe 2008, Selection Estonia

Last Sunday we spent an enjoyable afternoon watching the Bocuse d'Or, Europe 2008 Selection Estonia. The event took place in recently opened Swissôtel Tallinn. It was the first time Estonia is competing for a place at this prestigeous culinary contest, and there were four chefs competing: my favourite candidate Tõnis Siigur (Restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn), Peter Pihel (most recently at Restaurant Bloom, Stockholm), Vladislav Djatshuk (Restaurant Egoist, Tallinn) and Dmitri Rooz (Restaurant BeerHouse, Tallinn).

The contestants had 5,5 hours to prepare two dishes - one using salmon, and the other using lamb (incl. rack of lamb, lamb kidneys and lamb sweetbreads). Sadly, our camera battery failed us in the middle of the event, so we haven't got photos of all the finished dishes. However, here are some snapshots of the hard-working judges:



And here's one of Tõnis Siigur's salmon creation, Norwegian Salmon and Potato 'Ravioli', consisting of potato 'ravioli' with slow-cooked salmon belly, lemon and egg cream, salmon tartar, fresh horseradish, parmesan espuma and herbs.



The technical/kitchen judges were Michael Bhoola (a local Brit, Restaurant Pegasus, Tallinn), Roman Zaštšerinski (Restaurant Ö, Tallinn), Andrus Laaniste (Tallinn), Siiri Kirikal (Oma Maitse food magazine) and the taste judges Angelica Udeküll (Restaurant Aed, Tallinn), Christer Lingström (Restaurant Edsbacka Krog, Stockholm), Rasmus Kofoed (Restaurant Geranium, Copenhagen, Bocuse d'Or Silver Medal 2007), Sven-Erik Renaa (Norwegian Gastronomy Institute), Jarmo Vähä-Savo (Restaurant GW Sundmans, Helsinki). A very respectable and honorable bunch of judges :)

After lots of excitement and entertainment, the jury announced the winner - Estonia will be represented by Vladislav Djatshuk (Egoist, Tallinn). There are 20 countries competing for the first ever Bocuse d'Or Europe, which will take place in Stavanger, Norway on July 1st and 2nd, 2008.

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IKRA - Russian eggplant caviar/Russian aubergine caviar

Someone was looking for a "soft aubergine/eggplant spread with tomatoes" and I knew exactly what they were talking about. There's a dish in Russia, our Eastern neighbour, which is called IKRA or fake caviar. I got this recipe from Russian friend Galina back in Edinburgh sometimes around 2000. Still makes a regular appearance in our kitchen.  It's lovely on a slice of toast, or as a condiment or spread on a mezze-table. Russian aubergine spread IKRA 1 large aubergine/eggplant 1 large onion 2 garlic cloves 2 tomatoes 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice salt and freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley or dill Prick the aubergine with a fork here and there, then place into a preheated 200C/400F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked and slightly charred on the outside. Flip over once or twice during baking. Remove from the oven, let it cool. Then cul half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place into a cutting b...

Lamb and Puy lentils

January 6th - or today - is the last day to wish happy new year here in Estonia , so I'm just in time - Happy New Year, dear readers of Nami-Nami near and far! Wish you all a peaceful and productive year, full of delicious and nourishing food, with occasional treats and decadent moments! We're in the middle of a very awkward winter here. While friends in the US and Canada are facing huge snowstorms, then we had a green and mild Christmas with temperatures hovering at around couple of degrees above zero (Celsius, that is). Most unusual and weird, though not unheard of. We're promised that the temperature drops towards the end of January and we'll get some snow as well, but I won't believe it until I see it. Still, hearty soups and stews are what we're cooking most at the moment - it is winter, after all - and this lamb with lentils was a great and promising start to the culinary year or 2014. Oh, and as you can see, I'm now a proud owner of a beautiful red ...

Estonian layered curd cheese cake (kihiline kohupiimakook)

The photo is from January 2008   We love our curd cheese cakes in Estonia - and you'll find at least five curd cheese cake recipes here on my blog. This particular one is one of the most common curd cheese cakes out there. It uses a shop-bough yellow cake mix ("Juubeli tordipulber" or "Jubileum cake mix"), making it super-quick to assemble, and many Estonian cooks would have a packed somewhere in the kitchen drawer, just in cake. I'm an avid baker, love baking from scratch, and I do, just in cake :) I'm posting it here, as someone was looking for the English recipe and I realised I hadn't shared it yet. It's lovely when enjoyed lukewarm, with a glass of cold milk, but it's also really nice when completely cooled and accompanied with a cup of coffee or tea or cacao. Layered curd cheese cake ( Kihiline kohupiimakook ) Feeds 6 to 8 400 g creamy curd cheese 200 g sour cream (20% fat content is perfect) 4 eggs (L) 4 Tbsp caster sugar 1 yellow cak...