Vyborg and Karelian Isthmus are the kingdom of river and lakes, that's why the main particularity of the local cuisine are different types of fish. The presenter Andrej Ivanov visited the most famous restaurant in Vyborg «Round Tower» to learn how to prepare trout. The chef cook of the restaurant told that there exist a lot of ways how to prepare fish and that is the baking one which he chose for the «lesson». As a result we had a roll of trout, filled with lard and marinade cucumbers. This seemed to be a very sophisticated combination, but turned out to be very delicious. Moreover it's simple in cooking. Specially for the begging cookers!

Karelian Trout

recipe serves 2 persons; preparation time ~ 20 minutes; cooking time ~ 25 minutes
Ingredients for basic dish:
2 small river trout, 3-4 pickled cucumbers, 3 garlic cloves, 100 g. smoked fat, salt, pepper, fish spices, dried and finely ground breadcrumbs.

For garnish: 6 big potatoes, 3-4 fresh champignons (or ½ jar of canned champignons), 1 onion, 100 g. not hard cheese, vegetable oil, salt, pepper.

Directions:

Shred pickles, garlic and smoked fat.
Cut through the fish, from back to belly, lengthways right down to the tail. Clean it and pull out back fin to form plane opening. Sprinkle trout with salt, pepper and spices. Put te stuffing of fat, cucumbers and garlic across the trout on the right and on the left from the opening to back fin. Roll head and tail and pass through the opening to make stuffing remain inside the trout.

Dip trout in breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 150 degrees.

Garnish:

Chop mushrooms and onion finely and stir-fry until light golden. Add salt and pepper.
Grate cheese on fine grater side.
Peel potatoes and make a form of oval. Cut off core to form something like a small barrel. Fill each barrel with mushrooms and onion, sprinkle with grated cheese.
Bake with trout in the oven until cheese melts.