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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...

Festival food: Estonian Song and Dance Celebration 2014

This is a very special weekend for Estonia - our 26th Song Celebration and 19th Dance Celebration takes place. You'll get all the necessary information on this website , I'll focus on food here ;) It's a huge festival - with about 100 000 people gathered at the Song Festival Square, among them over 20 000 singers! You can imagine the amount of food you need to feed all those people during the weekend :) Festival food isn't usually known for its gastronomic finesse and wonderful flavour, but the food I saw yesterday at the Tallinna Lauluväljak (Song Festival Square) was pretty interesting. Here's a short overview for you, should you head to the celebrations today. The main eating area is marked with the red circle on the map below. "Merevärav" marks the "sea entrance" on Pirita road, so in case you're hungry, you should head to the right after entering the Song Festival grounds: It's also where the EESTI TOIDU VÄLJAK aka Estonian Food Co...

Wild garlic pesto aka ramson pesto recipe

(From the recipe archives - originally posted in April 2011. Three years on, this is still my favourite way of preparing wild garlic pesto. You can use either ramson or ramps). Wild garlic has arrived! Wild garlic, also known as ramson or bear's garlic ( Allium ursinum , ' karulauk ' in Estonian), is a very close relative to the wild leek aka ramp ( Allium tricoccum , ' grislilauk ' in Estonian). I've been eagerly waiting for this spring green, as I love both the flavour and the versatily of it, and it's a good health-booster at this time of the year. Well, if it's good enough for big brown bears, it's good enough for us :D Although I've been happily making a wild garlic pesto with pinenuts for a few years now, this one is a new favourite. There's more flavour, and somehow it's much more gutsier than the 'regular' wild garlic pesto. The idea to use almonds instead of pinenuts in a wild garlic pesto is from a German food magazin...