Sturgeon with red wine and cherry sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1,200 g fish (sturgeon), ready to cook
• 1 bunch of root vegetables (carrot, leek, parsley root…)
• 2 onions
• ½ liter of pickle liquid (pickle brine, alternatively 125 ml of vinegar)
• 20 peppercorns
• 4 bay leaves
• 125 ml Madeira or port wine
• 125 ml juice (cherry juice)
• 2 tbsp olives
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 sugar cubes
• ½ tsp clove(s), ground
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Salt
• some vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

Osetrina with her husband

Scald the ready-to-cook sturgeon in boiling water, skin, wash thoroughly, and rub with salt. Let it stand for about an hour. In the meantime, clean and chop the root vegetables, peel and chop the onions. Bring the water to a boil in a suitable container with the chopped root vegetables, onions, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Add pickle brine or vinegar to the mixture, and cook the fish over low heat. (Whole or in portions.) Remove the fish from the broth to a warm platter and keep warm. Strain the broth through a sieve and set aside. Make a roux from the flour and butter. Melt the butter in a saucepan and lightly sauté the flour, then remove from the heat. Chop the olives (or 1 tablespoon of capers). Briefly brown the sugar cubes in a hot pan and deglaze with a little fish stock. Thicken with the roux, add the cherry juice and Madeira, and bring to a boil. Gradually add enough fish stock to create a creamy sauce. Season to taste with cloves, cinnamon, vinegar or lemon juice, and salt. Add olives or capers to the sauce and bring to a boil. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve with boiled potatoes.