Christmas Eve - Dish 5 - fish in aspic.

If you don't like carp, the other option is fish in aspic.

for 10 portions

 300 grams of fish
1 carrot
1 parsley root
2 onions
1 bay leaf, black pepper, salt
5 tbsp of instant gelatin

Clean the fish very carefully. Clean and peel vegetables but don't cut.   Put vegetables into a pot with 2 litres of water, add salt, pepper and bay leaf and cook 25 minutes. Put the fish into the broth and cook slowly about 25 minutes. Cool down the fish and broth. Divide the fish into small pieces and put in small bowls. Cut carrots into slices and add to the fish. Cook two cups of broth and add  gelatin, mix well and add to the rest of the broth and mix. Pour the fish into the broth and put into the fridge overnight.

Christmas Eve - Dish 4 - carp in aspic.

Carp is very popular and traditional fish on Christmas Eve in Poland. In Polish tradition we have  many recipes for this fish but the most popular is carp in aspic.

1 carp (about 2 kg)
1 carrot
1 parsley root
1 leek
2 onions
1 bay leaf, black pepper salt
5 tbsp of instant gelatin
1 tbsp of butter

Clean the fish  very carefully and cut into rings. Clean and peel vegetables, and cut into small pieces.  In a pot melt butter, add vegetables and fry 5 minutes. Pour vegetables into water, add salt, pepper and bay leaf and cook 15 minutes. Put rings of carp to the broth and cook slowly about 25 minutes. Cool down the fish and broth. Put the fish into a deep dish in which it will be served. Cook two cups of broth and add  gelatin, mix well and add to the rest of broth and mix. Pour the fish into the broth and put into the fridge overnight.

Christmas Eve - Dish 3 - salad with smoked fish and mushrooms.

1 smoked mackerel or other fish
150 gram of fresh white mushrooms
1 apple
1 small onion
3 large gherkins
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of lemon juice
salt black pepper

Clean the fish from skin and bones and divide into small pieces. Peel and grate the apple and sprinkle lemon juice over it. Cut the onion and gherkins into small cubes. Clean the mushrooms and cut into thin slices. Put all ingredients into a bowl, add oil, salt and pepper and mix well. Put the salad into the refrigerator for minimum 1 hour. Serve cold.

Christmas Eve - Dish 2 - white herring.

Today let me present the second dish with herring - white herring. Herring is very popular in Poland and we have many dishes from this fish.

for 2 portions

2 large pieces of marinated herring
1 large apple
1/2 onion or 1 small onion
20 ml of fresh cream
1 tbsp of lemon juice.
salt, black pepper.

Cut the onion into very thin slices, put the onion into a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Peel the apple and grate it. Add the apple, fresh cream, salt and pepper to the onion and mix well. Put one piece of herring on a plate and put a layer ayr of the apple and onion salad on it. Serve immediately.



Enjoy!

Christmas Eve - Dish 1 - red herrings.

Today is the first of December. Christmas will be in 24 days. So  let's start the countdown! In the next days I will publish recipes for traditional Polish dishes on Christmas Eve .
Let's start. Today my favourite Christmas Eve starter - red herring.

10 pieces of marinated herring
2 large onions
100 grams of cranberries or raisins
6 tbsp of tomato purée
3 tbsp of honey
1 tbps of oil

Cut the herring  into large squares.  Cut onions into cubes. Heat oil in the pan and add tomato purée. Mix gently and fry about two minutes and add onions. When onions are a little transparent, add cranberries and mix it well. Fry about 5 minutes and add honey. In a wide bowl put a layer of herring and on top put fried onions and cranberries. Cover the bowl with kitchen foil and put into the fridge for about 24 hours. This dish can be kept in the fridge even a week.

Enjoy!

Irish restaurants lives

At the beginning of my stay in Ireland I met Dublin restaurants, but not as a customer. I was looking for a job. I needed a job immediately. So I decided not to wait for the reply to my emails or notification from the job centre. I started to walk from one restaurant to another and ask about a job. During two weeks I visited almost all the restaurants in the city centre. At that time I came across many types of cuisine and culinary tastes of the Irish people.

What surprised me most? There was a large number of Italian restaurants and big influences of Italian cuisine on the modern Irish cuisine.

When I read about Ireland, every guide talked about Irish or English cuisine as the most popular in Ireland, but it isn’t true. In every Irish Pub, in the menu, you can always find at least one Italian dish. Sometimes in the Pub menu there are just two or three Irish meals, the rest of the dishes are Italian. This regularity is not only in Dublin but also in provincial Pubs. If you want to eat a typical Irish meal in the Pub, you will order this dish which doesn’t seem too much Italian or you will order classic fish and chips.

 

There are many Italian restaurants in Dublin. Three years ago there was about one hundred. There are good places to try good cuisine and you can also find good Italian wine and coffee there. I have one close to my home. In addition, there is amazing espresso in Dublin. 

  

The second European cuisine very popular in Ireland is the Spanish one. The Irish love Spain and everything what is from Spain. They spend holidays in Spain, learn the Spanish language, like to enjoy with the Spaniards. Spanish restaurants are always full in the evening. I'm not surprised at this because Spanish restaurants employ the greatest Spanish chefs. 

 

 

Asian restaurants are the third most popular type of restaurants in Dublin. There are typical national restaurants. Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian restaurants are very popular but you can also find very exotic restaurants. Asian restaurants are often at a very high level and are open even in small towns.

The best Vietnamese restaurant I have ever been to is in a small village Ashford, outside Dublin.

The Irish love the spicy taste of Asian cuisine. Now during the crisis many restaurants are liquidated but they are still opening new Asian buffets and have lots of customers.

 

If you want to find a Polish restaurant in Dublin, you can visit just two bars in the city centre but very simple and very expensive dishes are served there.

Dublin Bay chowder with scampi

In every good restaurant in Dublin you can find scampi or Dublin Bay Prawns in the menu. It is the same shellfish. Scampi look like a prawn but it is not. It is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to 25 cm long, and is the most important commercial crustacean in Europe.

I tried scampi during my first dinner in a restaurant in Dublin. It was my second day in Ireland and we celebrated my arrival.

I ordered the strangest dish in the menu as a starter. It was Dublin bay chowder with scampi. I was very much surprised when in my soup I saw familiar to me ingredients and I asked the waiter which one were scampi. He pointed at pink prawns. At that time I thought that scampi is the Irish name for prawns. I'd probably be in this belief if I hadn't attended the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival. A lady explained to us that scampi are a type of lobster, and she was proud of Dublin cuisine. Scampi are served in hundreds of sophisticated ways but my favourite is Dublin bay chowder with scampi. 

Dublin Bay Chowder

For two

2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp each minced green onion, celery, fennel
1 tsp tomato puree
200 ml clam juice (or mild fish stock)
100 ml milk
½ cup medium shrimp (peeled, deveined, tail removed)
½ cup bay scallops
1 tsp each fresh chopped parsley, dill
pinch cayenne pepper
salt & white pepper to taste
1 Tbsp heavy cream


In a heavy saucepan melt butter. Add green onion, celery, fennel. Sweat until translucent. Add flour. Cook 4-5 minutes (do not allow to darken.) Add tomato puree.
Add clam juice. Bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer. Add seafood. Cook 1 minute.
Season with white pepper, cayenne and salt.
Add fresh herbs and heavy cream. Simmer 1 more minute.

Serve in warm soup plates with crusty, warm bread.