Giusi > wrote:

> "Victor Sack" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> > The "fish-pie" is actually "kulyebyaka" in the original, and the
> > ridiculous "gristle" is "viziga", dried spinal chord of the sturgeon.
>
> Since I have a kid who retches at the WORD gristle, I can only imagine that
> the translator figured what would happen if she used "dried spinal chord of
> the sturgeon"

She could have used "sturgeon chord" or "notochord". If people do not
know what it is, it is only par for the course. At present, not all
that many people in Russia still know what viziga is, either.

> among peoples who do not savor such things. Like me.

Have you tried it, then? It is virtually unobtainable nowadays, unless
you are willing to travel to Russia and have connections there. Its
taste is not very strong, but all of its own and unlike any other. It
also requires a long and careful preparation, especially if it is dried,
as it is usually is. It is not among any some "such things", as it is
unique. Here is a Web site (in Russian) of a Russian enthusiast
describing a making of multi-layered kulyebyaka with, among other
things, viziga, fresh in his case.
http://www.syrnikov.ru/Mycookery/kulebyakasvizigoy.html>
There is a photo of him holding whole fresh viziga aloft. The viziga
came from a 2.5-metre-long (8.2-feet) beluga. The kulyebyaka filling
was composed of the following layers: chopped boiled eggs, morels fried
with onions and then filled with pats of butter, a separating
blinchik/crêpe, a layer of rice with viziga, slices of Baltic salmon,
and another layer of rice.

Victor