There is a fish, very popular in Russia. It is eaten as an independent dish and as an appetizer for beer. Once her fishermen simply threw out of their nets, because it was not considered valuable. But everything changed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Now it occupies one of the central places in fishing in Russia. We are talking about a breed of fish called roach.
General information about wobble
This fish can reach up to 30 centimeters in length. Its characteristic feature is a silver iris. In addition, dark spots are located above her pupils. An animal-eating vobla is a fish that lives in the Caspian Sea. Invertebrate inactive animal world prevails in its diet.
There was a time when fishermen hunted only for valuable species of fish. This fish was not considered worthy of attention. But over time, fisheries began to actively develop. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century, unexpectedly for everyone, the taste and nutritional value of such a breed as roach were discovered. Fish is used in different forms: smoked, dried, salted, dried, and after heat treatment according to different recipes. It is interesting that if the dried roach is also smoked, then its cost increases. They eat not only fish meat itself , but, of course, its caviar. But roach stewed in milk is almost a delicious dish. It is very tasty and popular.
Beneficial features
Besides the fact that roach is a tasty fish, it is also very useful. Its composition includes a very large amount of protein. Fish contains saturated fatty acids, vitamins of groups C, B and macronutrients (chlorine, phosphorus, calcium, sodium and others).
The most delicious and healthy roach is a fish containing trace elements: nickel, molybdenum. It contains polyunsaturated fatty acids, which makes it an excellent prophylactic that helps in the prevention of heart and vascular diseases.
In addition to all these advantages, this fish contains few calories - only 95 kcal per 100 grams. It can be said that it is ideal for dieters. The weight of the roach can reach 700 grams.
Fishing features
Fish belongs to carp species. Fishing for vobla is carried out on the lower Volga. Many confuse it with roach. But this is only at first glance they are the same. An experienced fisherman can easily distinguish roach from roach, which is larger and has the characteristic features of the iris described above.
For the dried cooking method, large and oily fish caught under ice (floating) are best suited. Dried roach is such a tasty product that it is very difficult to break away from it. In addition, it retains all the useful properties, as it is not subjected to quenching or other type of heat treatment. Dried roach fish is not inferior in its properties, but many still prefer dried fish.
Targeted fishing for vobla has been going on for about 150 years. They began to catch it when they realized that the migration of this fish occurs earlier than herring. She began to be caught and sold after processing.
At first she was simply salted. Fish with underdeveloped caviar was used for cooking by the “smoked” method. Fish with developed caviar was processed according to the “carbohydrate” method. These methods are excellent in that fish with developed caviar needed slots on the sides for better salting. The carcasses were not gutted and salted whole. Prepared fish were planted from 6 to 8 pieces on bast bast, sprinkled with salt and placed in barrels. When the roach was ready, it was hung in the air and dried. After she went either for smoking, or for sale in the market. I must say that beer lovers often prefer smoked roach for appetizer.
The disadvantages of roach and its differences from roach
Sometimes you may hear the question: “Vobla - river or sea fish? And does she have negative qualities? ” This fish is very useful, but it has a drawback - the inconvenience of eating because of the abundance of bones. Therefore, most often it is used in a dried form, and in places of catch it can also be fried. Soups and fish soup are not recommended. But in the stew, it is delicious.
Vobla lives in the Caspian Sea. It forms herds - the North Caspian, Turkmen and Kurin. A female mosque usually has up to 33,000 eggs. Fish spawns mainly on the Volga. Much less often - in Embu, Ural and Terek. She begins to spawn in April - May. Due to the drop in the level of the Caspian Sea, fish has significantly decreased in numbers. Wintering conditions, fattening, reproduction worsened. The situation is also affected by poaching.
There is a fish similar to a roach - roach. They are even confused or even considered one and the same. Vobla differs from river roach in both the size and characteristic features of the eyes described above. Here you can add the difference between the fins, which she has gray with a black trim.
Breeding
Vobla is capable of reproducing up to 6 times in life. Caviar is laid to a depth of 50 meters. Winters roach in the sea. In autumn, she approaches the banks of the Volga in large shoals and continues to winter in the pits in front of the mouth of the river. But it does not enter the mouth itself, unlike Siberian roach. In the early spring, sometimes at the end of winter, the roach goes to the river. It depends on the weather. Colds delay the exit, and the wind from the sea, on the contrary, contributes to this process.
Some individual individuals begin to go into the river even under the ice, somewhere in the second half of February. In March, the flow of fish intensifies, but it will finally go in April, when the ice has melted. On all branches of the Volga, then schools of robs stretch then, but it almost never goes beyond Volgograd. Most of the fish still remains at the mouths of the river, looking for places for spawning, clogging all the channels and backwaters. At this time, a large number of rodents die when they go to hollow places close to the shore. Water recedes, and it remains on land.
When this breed of fish spawns, its appearance changes slightly. Warts form on the scales, and so-called nuptial attire on the head. Before the breeding season, the fish no longer takes food. Her stomach will be empty or full of mucus. Vobla will live at the expense of its own fat. The earlier the vobla entered the river, the richer the fat. After spawning, the fish will lose a lot of weight and become a darker color, elongated. She goes to sea, losing her wedding dress, and again eagerly rushes to feed.
Reviews
If you read the reviews about fish, then they are completely different. Regarding the taste of the roach and its nutritional value, no one doubts and claims, but as for the finished product, bought in different places, there are frequent complaints: salted, under salted, with parasites and something else like that.
Positive reviews can be found regarding the Astrakhan roach, cooked tasty and of high quality. But is she really so good, you can see only personally. One thing is certain: when buying fish, you need to carefully examine it for freshness and parasites so that there are no health problems. And the fact that the fish is tasty and healthy is not worth doubting.