Fish cutlets with dill potatoes, cucumber salad and wild garlic mayo

They say that Estonians are the most stationary nation in Europe – thousands of years ago, our forefathers gathered on this land and decided to stay. We carry with us traditions and wisdom that has been passed down from generation to generation. The roots of our story go way back. Now we look back and appreciate our old recipes and ancient customs. We want to prepare traditional dishes in a way that all Estonians know and love while also adding a contemporary touch.

A recipe for fish cutlets can be found in the first Estonian-language cookbook, which was published in 1781 and was meant for cooks in manors. Estonians started eating cutlets in the end of the 19th century, beginning of the 20th century, when local people got into other pan-fried foods. These dishes were also introduced by Estonian home economics schools and courses. Nowadays, dishes made of fresh fish are a true pearl of the modern Estonian cuisine.

• Course: main
• Serves: 6
• Preparation time: 1,5 h
• Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

1 kg fish fillet
100 g bread
100 ml whipping cream
4 eggs
2 medium onions
20 g chopped dill
100 g flour
200 g breadcrumbs
½ litre milk
600 g potatoes
15 g chopped dill
Salt
Pepper

Cucumber salad
300 g cucumber
5 g salt
10 g chopped dill
10 g chopped chives

Wild garlic mayo
250 g mayonnaise
35 g wild garlic leaves (or other preferred herbs, such as green onion, chives)

Directions

1. Chop the onion and glaze on low heat with butter.
2. Soak the toast slices in whipping cream.
3. Clean the fish fillet of bones and crumble the meat using a meat grinder. You can use white or red fish, such as salmon, trout, cod, sea bass, place or whiting.
4. Add an egg, the soaked and crushed toast slices, salt, pepper, fried onion and chopped dill to the fish mass. Mix thoroughly and form the cakes.
5. Coat with breadcrumbs: first dip the cakes in flour, then into a beaten egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Fry in a pan until golden and bake in the oven (180 ºC) for about 5 minutes.
6. Blend the mayonnaise and wild garlic until you get an even, light green mixture.
7. Wash and boil the potatoes (use fresh potatoes if possible). Add a touch of butter and chopped dill before serving.
8. Peel and slice the cucumber. Place in a container that has a lid. Add salt and cover with the lid. Shake the container until the cucumber is soft and flavoured with salt. Add chopped chive and dill.
9. To serve: place the fishcakes, dill potatoes, wild garlic mayo and cucumber salad on a plate.

Photos by: Johannes Hõimoja