Pawaru-Grahmata

№ 92III. nodaļa

Nēģus cept un ietaisīt

Grilled and pickled lampreys

  • Serves 6 as a starter
  • 1 hour, plus 2–3 days' pickling
  • Melnraksts · vēl nav izmēģināts

1796Nehgus zept un eetaisiht.

Modernizētslpp. 184–185 · PDF 198–199
6 porcijas

The book gives 24 hours' pressing and no quantities; the amounts below are ours.

Method

6 soļi
  1. Kill the lampreys first (see Notes): stun each one with a firm blow to the head and cut through the spine just behind the head. Or buy them freshly killed.
  2. Rub the lampreys with the coarse salt and leave for 10–15 minutes; the salt draws out the slime. Wipe them clean with a cloth or kitchen paper, then rinse and pat dry. Lampreys are traditionally cooked whole, without gutting.
  3. Grill over glowing charcoal, or in a ridged grill pan, for 4–6 minutes on each side, until the skin blisters and the flesh is firm and cooked through (63 °C in the thickest part). Leave to cool completely.
  4. Bring the vinegar to the boil and let it cool.
  5. Scatter some of the bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves and mace in the bottom of a jar or crock. Pack in a layer of lampreys, then more spices, and so on in layers. Press them down with a plate and a weight and leave in the fridge for 24 hours.
  6. Pour over the cold vinegar to cover, close the jar and keep it in the fridge. The lampreys are ready after a day or two and keep for about 2 weeks. Serve cold, cut into pieces, with rye bread.

Notes

What the book says vs. what we added

the book sprinkles the live lampreys with salt and lets them die and stand a while, wipes off all the slime with a cloth and grills them on a gridiron. When cold they go into a small barrel: bay leaves, peppercorns, crushed cloves and mace at the bottom, then lampreys, then spices again, in layers. When the barrel is full, a lid and stones go on top to press them; after 24 hours the barrel is closed tight and sealed with pitch, a hole is bored in the top and boiled, cooled vinegar poured in, and the hole closed. They can also be pickled in a glass jar or a pot. Killing them first, the jar and the fridge are ours.

Killing

salting lampreys alive, as in the book (and in some traditional recipes still), kills them slowly. Stunning and killing each one first is more humane; the salt still removes the slime afterwards.

Buying

in Latvia lampreys are in season from late summer into winter, sold fresh or already grilled (cepti nēģi). Ready-grilled ones can go straight to step 4.

Vinegar

the book pours on straight vinegar, which keeps them a long time but is very sharp. Many Latvian cooks today use a milder marinade; diluting the vinegar with a third of water is our option. Keep them in the fridge either way.

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