Find That — I Know Not What

Today I was planning to cook myself “kalia” for dinner, and I’m more than sure that many people have never even heard that word. And it’s for nothing. Kalia is something between rassolnik and fish soup “ukha,” but it’s much tastier than both. Made from fatty types of fish—better yet, sturgeon—thanks to cucumber brine and just a little lemon juice, kalia turns from food into a real dish. And if you add a little marinated capers (our ancestors did exactly that), then an ordinary meal can rightly be called a feast! In fact, it was a jar of marinated capers that made me think of preparing this long-forgotten dish.

And if anyone doesn’t know what capers are—or confuses them with pampers—I should tell you that capers are an excellent sharp seasoning made from the buds of an evergreen Mediterranean plant. All of this can be prepared in about fifteen to twenty minutes, if you boil the rice ahead of time. I had rice, so in half an hour I was already sitting at the table, planning to commit the sin of gluttony. And, honestly, I did—ate to the full. Though instead of sturgeon I used fatty fresh carp. In combination with salmon, they create no less refined a taste.