Fish in Greek sauce

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 kg fish fillet(s) (sea fish)
• Flour
• 5 m.-sized carrot(s)
• 1 parsley root(s)
• 1 slice(s) celeriac, 1 column
• 2 large onions
• 50 g tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp mustard
• 5 grains of allspice
• 100 ml water
• oil
• salt and pepper
• Sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Layered salad with sea fish and carrots, Polish “Ryba po Grecku”

Coarsely grate the carrots, parsley root, and celery. Finely chop the onions and fry briefly in oil, then add the vegetables. Sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the water, bay leaf, and allspice berries, and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the tomato paste, ketchup, mustard, and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. The sauce shouldn’t be too watery; if necessary, skim off any liquid, or let it boil away or evaporate. Then keep the sauce warm. Wash the fish, pat dry, drizzle with lemon juice, lightly season with salt and pepper, coat in flour, and fry in the pan on both sides. Remove the fish from the pan. Now place a layer of fish at the bottom of the dish, spread the still-warm sauce on top to a thickness of a thumb, repeating the layers, alternating fish and sauce, and ending with the sauce on top. Ready to serve immediately. Delicious hot or cold. Tip: – Use saltwater fish such as hake, cod, Alaska pollock, etc. – Be sure to use oil for frying, as margarine or butter hardens after cooling and forms an unsightly layer on top. – The fish can, of course, also be prepared while the sauce is simmering. – Use a large bowl or several medium-sized ones. Since the layers are also decorative, a glass bowl works well. – Tastes best if it has been left to marinate in the bowl for 1-2 hours. This old recipe is prepared in various variations in Poland and is especially popular around Christmas time. My mother-in-law brought this recipe back from her culinary apprenticeship in Eastern Poland and has been cooking it unchanged ever since, much to everyone’s delight. I’ve made it a few times myself – it’s really simple and delicious.