Sosvinskaya herring - how to see the royal delicacy on your table

Fish in our country has always been considered a delicacy, especially its rare varieties. And if you think that the most expensive and rare fish - necessarily red and large, then you are mistaken. For the title of the most legendary fish delicacy with success can compete sosvinskaya herring. What is this fish and why did it get that name?

Features of fish

In fact, the Sosva herring is not herring at all. It belongs to the family of whitefish, subfamily of salmonids, and its closest relatives are omul, nelma and vendace. The real name of this fish is the tugun, and it became due to its habitat. The fact is that the tugun is an endemic, that is, a species that lives in a single, limited place and does not swim away from its birthplace. In this case it is the rivers of Siberia. But in the small tributary of the Ob, in the Northern Sosva, near the village of Berezovoe in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, the most numerous and most delicious Sosvinskaya herring is found.

Her photo shows an unremarkable, small - up to 20 cm in length - a roundish fish, slightly resembling externally, but with taste qualities exceeding it many times.

They catch a tugun in the spring, during a high water, when he goes to fattening schools. Therefore, catching it is not convenient for spinning and not even a net, but a seine. In the middle of summer, the weakened tugun comes back from shallow waters, estuaries and tributaries into the river to spawn. At this time it is also easy to catch. However, fishing has been banned for some time since the population in the region is rapidly falling. Despite all the prohibitions and huge fines, poachers almost round the clock catch a tugun in the period of his turn.

The history of the royal fish

In Russia, the Sosva herring was loved from ancient times, and even before it was called her royal herring, as they supplied it directly to the royal table. Peter I was very fond of her taste.

In Soviet times, it produced only 10 tons per year, and only due to this lived the village and the local fish factory. Once a year after catching and pickling, a refrigerator was sent from Moscow, which took valuable canned food to the tables of the very first people of the state.

Also known is the fact that at the Yalta Conference Stalin treated the Churchill delicacy, and he ate fish cognac. Sosvinskaya herring was so well liked by Mr. Churchill that later a barrel of this delicacy was sent to him on a direct flight.

What makes sosvinskaya herring a delicacy?

First, of course, the taste of this fish. It is very thin with a light aroma of freshness, reminiscent of cucumber. The meat itself is fat and tender enough that, after lying down for a couple of months in the brine, it simply melts in it without a trace. Therefore, fish are made salted and try to sell right there. However, this is not difficult - for poachers a kilogram can cost up to a thousand rubles. Fresh Sosvinskaya herring is kept very short: even if it lays a little, it tastes bad - in its meat there is a lot of fat, which in the air quickly oxidizes, and the fish almost immediately becomes, as they say, with a scent. Therefore, they officially sell it not fresh, but salted. Also it should not be frozen, as it completely kills the unique taste of the product.

Secondly, the glory to her created a deficit and a rarity. Buy it - even in the Khanty-Mansiysk region a great success, what can we say about central Russia.

Where to try

Since this fish remains a little, and it is kept very little, it can not be brought to the capital or even to the neighboring region. Therefore, salt it in place - at the Berezovsky fish factory. There are similar factories in neighboring Surgut and Tyumen. Prepare it in factories in one way only - it's a spicy cripple ambassador, which perfectly delineates the taste of fish.

The easiest way to buy this fish is on the website of the Berezovsky fish factory "Siberian fish", where several variants of the Sosva herring are on sale. There is an enterprise and a representative office in the capital, so if you do not know where in Moscow to try sosvinskaya herring, look for this official online store. There is also a department in the capital in the shopping center "FOOD CITY" on the Kaluga highway. By the way, a 200-gram bank costs about 500 rubles.

How to pickle Sosvina herring at home

If you managed to get a fresh sosvinsku herring, do not hesitate and do not try it on yourself. Such a fish should be prepared as quickly as possible and as simple as possible - this is the best way to reveal the taste of its meat. Fishermen usually ate it directly raw, putting it in a bucket and filling it with a large salt. Then everything was simple - they took the fish by the tail, tore off the fin, pulled the insides, tore off the head (with tender fish all this can be done in one motion) and sent into the mouth.

But you can make a more attractive version of the ambassador - you can sprinkle the gutted fish well with salt and pepper and leave for a day, after which you can eat directly with the bones, they are so gentle and soft. You can prepare a spicy marinade. To do this, put the whole unpeeled fish in unoxidized dishes, fill it with salt at the rate of a tablespoon per kilogram of fish. Next, prepare the marinade itself - in 50 ml of water add a couple of bay leaves, a teaspoon of pepper, cumin, coriander and nutmeg and boil the liquid. Then cool it and pour the fish, crush it and leave it in the cold for a couple of days.

Everyone who has ever tried this delicacy, is unanimously assured that you will never forget its taste, so if you could find it on sale, safely take and taste it.