Both fish and meat – who combines them and why

Few people think of mixing these ingredients (and it's generally right!), but there are exceptions to every rule.

There are some very interesting options on the gastronomic map of the world.

Italian "tuna veal" – vitello tonnato

A traditional Italian appetizer originally from Piedmont is thinly sliced marinated veal topped with a sauce whose main ingredient is tuna. This combination is not dissonant, as tuna is distinguished by the absence of a pronounced fishy smell, for which it is often called "sea veal." Capers, lemon, and sometimes mustard add spice to tender tuna.

It is believed that cooking something similar to vitello tonato began in the Middle Ages. Only anchovies were added to it instead of tuna. Cunning traders hid expensive salt under small fish, and over time, well-salted cheap fish became part of many recipes. Today, the secret of anchovies has been revealed – during fermentation, they produce a noticeable amount of a natural flavor enhancer, monosodium glutamate. Thanks to this, as well as its specific, non-fishy flavor, anchovies are used as a salty and spicy seasoning in sauces, pizza, and other dishes.

Finnish Mannerheim forshmak

While herring plays a leading role in the well-known forshmak, in the dish popular in the northern regions, it is only an addition to the meat. In Finland, it is believed that this type of hot pate made of ground lamb and beef, sometimes poultry, and herring was brought to the country by Carl Gustav Mannerheim. He allegedly tasted this dish of Jewish origin in Poland and liked it very much. And later, along with the famous marshal, forshmak became famous.

The version is quite plausible, but it should be noted that the combination of fish and meat is not typical for Jewish cuisine – kashrut does not explicitly prohibit it, but tradition still does not recommend such a mix. But for Ugro-Finnish cuisine, such a mix is just typical. One can recall at least the rye pie kalakukko with fish and bacon (one of the variants of the name's origin: from "kala" - fish, and "kukko" - rooster); or the ancient soup jurma with fish and poultry broth, the recipe of which was tried to be recreated by an inquisitive researcher of culinary traditions William Pokhlebkin. It is believed that the combination of fish and meat in ancient times was ritualistic.

Slavic fish soup

Either our ancestors got the idea from our northern neighbors, the Ugro-Finns, or they came up with a culinary technique similar to the crowd, but in old cookbooks, ukha cooked in rooster broth is called nothing less than "royal". Pohlebkin found arguments in favor of calling it "bishop's". However, it is likely that this dish was born not in royal palaces or monastery refectories, but in the homes of ordinary people who wanted to get the most nutrition from poultry and fish.

From the point of view of nutrition

The ingredients of the aforementioned dishes undergo significant culinary processing, which makes them easier to digest. So if you have a chance to try any of the dishes, or get culinary inspiration to cook them, great!

"However, it's no accident that we subconsciously avoid mixing fish and meat," says therapist Borys Skachko, who pays great attention to proper nutrition, "because the brain realizes that something is wrong, and it cannot give the stomach a command to digest different types of proteins separately. And the stomach, what can it do? It has neither eyes to see what has entered it, nor hands to put everything on its shelves. So when fish and meat products enter it at the same time, the former, having a more delicate fiber structure, are digested, while the latter do not have time. Then undigested food provokes undesirable processes. Bloating is quite possible: it means that bacteria (not the good kind) are sending us their greetings and thanking us for lunch."

So, those who care about their health should eat fish and meat at different meals every day. You can also treat yourself to something unusual sometimes to make sure that fish can be used as an extraordinary flavoring.