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Smoked eel and oven-baked beetroot salad

This starter recipe is locally known as “The Coat” or “Kasukas” with smoked eel and oven-baked beetroot

The layered beetroot and herring salad (translated from Russian as “Herring under a winter coat salad”) originates from East Slavic cuisine. During Soviet times, this salad, with its special sauce made of sour cream, mayonnaise and mustard, was prepared for celebrations along with potato salad and the Russian beet and potato salad. Eel has been a delicacy for Estonians since the Middle Ages, when it was served during formal dinners. In Soviet times, eel was very hard to come by and therefore considered a real jewel on a holiday dinner table.

Ingredients serves 10

Method

  1. Boil the potatoes and carrots until tender, leaving the skin on.
  2. Place the beetroot (with the skin on) in the oven at 180 ºC for 1,5 hours. Check that it is cooked before removing from the oven.
  3. Boil the eggs.
  4. Peel the potatoes, carrots and beetroot. Grate all components with a coarse grater and place in separate bowls.
  5. Finely chop the onion.
  6. Clean the smoked eel or some other preferred smoked fish and crumble between your fingers.
  7. Mix together sour cream and mayonnaise. Season with salt.
  8. In a glass bowl, layer the ingredients for the dish: place the smoked eel in the bottom, add the grated potato and then the chopped onion. Then cover with half of the sauce.
  9. Add grated beetroot and then the grated carrot. Cover with the rest of the sauce. Decorate with finely grated egg.

 

 

Recipe Contributor :  Visit Estonia  / Janno Lepik, Head Chef of Leib Resto, Tallinn

Estonia, a secret well kept on the coast of Baltic Sea, is much closer and accessible by sea than you think. Its winding 3,700Km long coastline and roughly 2000 islands is by far more lengthy than its land border. Vibrant atmosphere packed with many regattas, Estonia is a place well worth exploring by boat.

Estonia has smaller and bigger yacht marinas to choose from located across the coastline and islands. In a matter of days, or in some cases hours, you can reach Estonian ports and marinas from neighbouring countries such as Finland and Sweden. By the shortest route from northern coast across the Gulf of Finland to Finland is just 25 nautical miles.

No visit is complete without seeing the UNESCO world heritage capital city Tallinn , the best preserved medieval city in Northern Europe, as well as being a world leading hi-tech centre.  Visitors can also enjoy the tranquillity and natural beauty of Estonia, 50% of which is unspoilt forest.

For further information please go to the Visit Estonia website : www.visitestonia.com