Hot smoked sprat. Hot smoked Baltic sprat

The fish processing company Saiva anno 1949 from Mērsrags is one of those who carry the name of Latvia written on cans of sprats and other canned fish around the world. And, admittedly, it goes pretty far. About this and many other things "Hour" has taken an interest in the director of Saiva anno 1949 on logistics Oksana Vereda.

The little fish makes a big contribution to the country's economy

black and gold

How did the “benzopyrene blockade” by Russia affect you?

We are not blacklisted. And Russia remains our main sales market. But in order to insure against the vagaries of fate and various force majeure circumstances, we are constantly looking for new markets. In particular, not without the help of Privat banka, which has a huge database of enterprises in Ukraine, we are successfully developing exports to this country. “PrivatBusinessClub” is a club of enterprises that are looking for partners in Russia and Ukraine. 19,000 clients from almost all industries are represented here. Moreover, these are real companies, not the mythical ones that the Internet is teeming with.

But today they have learned how to make sprats in Ukraine.

Yes, it is not difficult to buy equipment and technologies, which is used by Ukrainians, Poles, and our Baltic neighbors. But it is impossible to buy traditions and recipes with them. After all, even in Latvia, where at least ten factories make sprats, they all have different tastes. In addition, in the post-Soviet space, sprats are associated precisely with Latvia. They are the same country brand as balm, Laima, Lauma. Sprats have become a proper name. After all, in fact, they are smoked sprats. But “smoked sprat” sounds somehow undignified. Another thing is “sprats”. Today, a sample of new labels with a new design should be brought from the printing house. However, the main thing is that the color scheme - gold on black - will remain unchanged. It has already become a signature style.

Labels - informative reading

This means that the labels of your sprats speak many languages. How many?

We must count. Russian, Baltic countries, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Armenian, Georgian, Polish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hebrew. We are constantly trying to break into the markets of the old EU countries. But it is very difficult. Everywhere has its own rules, its own taste preferences. Finally, its economic situation. Perhaps in the near future our products will speak the language of Borges and Cervantes. However, the situation in Argentina is not the best, including in agriculture, and negotiations with our partners there have stalled. There is interest in our products in the USA, as well as in all countries where there are many immigrants from the former USSR.

A year or two ago, Latvian ministers called Latvia's main competitive advantage its cheap labor force.

The situation has changed dramatically. And we have to compete not with price, but with quality, occupying the niche of not cheap products, but average and above average.

But after all, canned food has always been synonymous with something inexpensive.

Just not sprats. Moreover, today it is one of the few food products that does not contain artificial preservatives and chemical additives at all. Of course, sprats are different for sprats. Even in Latvia there are already producers who do not bother to smoke sprat, but simply fill it with oil and add a chemical flavor, the so-called liquid smoke. Naturally, this technology is cheaper. However, people are increasingly reading what is written on the label. And on our labels it says: composition - fish, vegetable oil, salt. And that's it. The fish is lightly smoked, at our factory - on alder sawdust, and filled with oil - a natural preservative. And it can be safely stored for two years at room temperature.

That is, you are selling not some kind of liquid smoke invented in the laboratory, but the real “smoke of the fatherland”. But what about the notorious benzopyrene?

Here we are talking about some special selectivity of food and veterinary standards. Compare a tiny fish, 9-10 centimeters long, and a ham. The first one is almost not necessary to smoke. And in order to bring a piece of meat to condition, it will take much more time. In addition, benzopyrene is drawn out from sprats with oil, and they are not eaten so often. But for some reason they took up arms against them, no one cares about the health of people who constantly consume smoked meat.

Is fresh or frozen fish used in the production of canned fish?

Mostly fresh. We have our own berth, and fishing boats are unloaded right at the plant. Another thing is that a fish processor, like a fisherman, depends on the weather. Therefore, we have to keep some stock of frozen raw materials. But this is not profitable, since the products from it are more expensive, and along with the fish, which is frozen in the literal sense, money is also figuratively frozen.

Virtuosi Wanted

Sprats cannot be cheap also because they are handmade. It is impossible to come up with an automatic machine that (points to the parquet floors) will lay down fragile fishes so neatly, as our workers masterfully do.

Production workers have always acutely felt the shortage of personnel, fish processors are no exception. Some of your colleagues even imported labor from Thailand.

Yes, after all, traditionally, fish canning plants were built near the water, and quite densely, so human resources are limited. In addition, we are under a lot of pressure from the need to increase wages, people know the way to Ireland and other countries very well. We also had migrant workers working for some time - citizens of Bulgaria and Ukraine. However, now we have gone a different way. After all, we also have depressed regions with a high level of unemployment. Therefore, we arranged a hostel on the territory of the plant, made repairs, bought new furniture. And we transport workers from Latgale.

After listening to your story, I realized that sprats are useful not only as an environmentally friendly food product, but also for the country's economy.

Of course, and to be honest, I would like some help from the state. Thank you for the opportunity to use EU funds today. But the state could also make some tax breaks. After all, we give jobs to people in the regions, we develop exports, sending about 97% of our products abroad.

From the name of your company, you can understand that next year the plant turns 50 years old. Taking this opportunity, we congratulate you on the upcoming!

Reference

In 2008, Saiva anno 1949 increased its production volume by 30% and expanded its sales geography from eight to 12 countries. The company employs 180 people.

Every day, fishing vessels come to ports with their catch on deck. It is reloaded, transported to the fish factory. Here it gets into the sorting shop - herring, sprat, herring, and other varieties. And from what fish do sprats, a product familiar to all of us in jars, be made? Initially, they were made from one raw material - the Baltic sprat, which is a subspecies of the European one. After they began to use the Caspian (Black Sea sprat) and herring. And also juvenile herring, another trifle.

Habitat and subspecies

What kind of fish are sprats made from? Actually Sprattus sprattus, or European sprat, can be found in the Russian Federation in the Baltic and North Seas. And in the Black and Mediterranean subspecies Sprattus phaericus lives, which is smaller and serves as a dinner for dolphins and predatory fish. In the Falkland Islands area, Sprattus fuegensis is found - and in rather large flocks - which grows up to 17 centimeters in length.

The New Zealander is distinguished by the spines of the keeled belly scales. Large flocks of this subspecies graze near the eastern coast of New Zealand and stay here in November and during the next month. They are accompanied by many predatory fish and sea birds that feed on sprats. In a word, near New Zealand, this fish plays an important role as a food base.

Canned food "Sprats in oil"

Although for ichthyologists sprats are only Sprattus sprattus, for the processor it is any small fish - sprat, herring, herring, for example - smoked and then rolled up in a jar with salt and oil. But before becoming a favorite dish in the context of cooking, she will have to go through a series of transformations. What kind of fish are sprats made from? All raw materials are sorted by a special device according to dimensions. Fish for sprats in jars gets at least 9 centimeters in length (but not more than 20). Then it enters the tattoo shop, where workers are located along the tape, and they carefully monitor the external condition of the raw material. And if the skin is damaged, the fish is used for pate. Then whole sprats are pierced on skewers-rods (each holds 20 pieces). The work is manual: about 300 bars fall on any worker per day, and about six thousand carcasses pass “through hands” per shift. And after a few tens of minutes, the raw material takes on approximately the form that we are used to seeing when opening a jar.

About cooking technology

As a rule, seven or eight frames with carcasses are hung in a specialized oven. Here fish (sprat, or herring, or sprats) are dried for 10 minutes in well-heated air. After that, it is steamed, and it is smoked for another quarter of an hour. Let it cool down at the end.

Second phase

Fish (herring, sprat or Sprattus) are returned to the conveyor and brought into the appropriate form prescribed by GOST. First, future sprats go through the stage of guillotining (in simple terms, they cut off their heads - for this they use a circular knife). Further, the blanks are placed in jars - also manually - in an original way. The first layer is placed belly down, and the 2nd layer is belly up, for beauty! You open the jar, and there is a goldfish - smoked, tasty and fragrant. When open, the jars move along the conveyor. There, vegetable oil is poured into them and salt is added. The last stage is rolling up the can. Finished products are packed in boxes and placed in a warehouse. Here, within a month, the sprats must ripen, that is, soaked in oil and salt.

What kind of fish are sprats made from?

Let's take canned food from various manufacturing companies. On jars everywhere it is written "sprats". Let's look, however, at the composition (in small letters). On one is written "smoked fish", on the second - "sprat", on the third - "herring fish". The thing is that from such fish the most delicious canned food is obtained - sprats in oil. By the way, more and more often now the dish is prepared from herring - there are a lot of it in the Baltic. But the real Sprattus is becoming rarer. Today, in principle, any small fish has a chance to become a dish called sprats, if it is smoked using the appropriate technology and fits in a can!

at home

Finally, we offer an option, so to speak, hand-made. According to guests, such fish are tasty and fragrant - no worse (but undoubtedly more beneficial for the body) than a store-bought product. So, let's try to cook homemade sprats. We need 1200 grams of herring (now it can be purchased at any supermarket). By the way, you can use both capelin and fresh-frozen sprat. The main thing is that the fish are unsalted and correspond to the usual sizes for the dish. You also need to take one and a half glasses of water and two-thirds of a glass of vegetable oil, a large spoonful of tea leaves, two small spoons of salt, a few laurels, a small bag of black peppercorns. And most importantly - onion peel!

Marinade

The marinade is prepared first. Take a pot that is not too big. Washed onion peel is laid out there, bay leaf with pepper (peas) is added, everything is poured with water and put on fire. The future marinade is brought to a boil and cooked over low heat for 5-7 minutes. Then tea is added there - it is ordinary, black leaf, and granulated is allowed. Everything is well mixed. The fire is turned off, and the saucepan is covered with a lid. Let the marinade infuse.

We cook simply!

In the meantime, the fish is being cleaned (if you bought it frozen, you must first defrost it naturally). The heads come off and the guts are removed. In purified form, it turns out about a kilogram of raw materials. Now a pan with a thick bottom (or cauldrons) is taken, and the carcasses are placed in it tightly, backs up.

The first layer, when laid out, is followed by the second (also with the backs up). Well, the herring is laid, while we set it aside. While the fish was being prepared, the marinade was infused. But first it needs to be strained. For this procedure, a sieve is taken, and through it all the liquid is drained into a container prepared in advance. The tea leaves are also squeezed out - it just gives a rich golden color. Cakes are thrown out.

Salt is added to the marinade and mixed well. If you want sprats to have a truly smoky flavor, add a large spoonful of "liquid smoke" seasoning. Those who consider it harmful do without this procedure. Fill the fish in a container with marinade plus vegetable oil. Carcasses should be completely covered with marinade. The saucepan is put on fire, brought to a boil. Then a small fire is made so that the herring boils just a little. Cover tightly with a lid and simmer on the stove for about an hour. After this time, the lid opens, the gas turns off, and we let the fish cool completely. Since if it is laid out in a hot state, it will fall apart. Cooled home-style sprats can be stored in the same bowl at the bottom of the refrigerator. Such a delicious semi-finished product can be successfully used in a salad, for sandwiches and so easy to eat. Bon appetit everyone!

A small smoked fish of the herring family - sprat - is most often used in its original form - as an appetizer for beer. Its taste qualities depend on the type of smoking: when using the hot method, it remains soft, and the taste is more delicate and less salty than raw smoked, which is dried during processing.

Smoked sprat It is also used to prepare interesting and original dishes, to which it gives a smoky taste. You can add it to a salad, or make a sandwich with fresh vegetables and herbs. A small amount of sprat can endow an ordinary home-made fish soup with a taste “like in nature”, when a burning piece of wood is dipped into a ready-made soup. Cut into small pieces, it will brighten up any fish stew, and mixed with boiled cereals - rice, wheat, or even corn, it can be an excellent filling for snack pies.

The benefits of smoked sprat

Due to their small size, it is difficult to remove the bones from smoked sprats, and this is not necessary - they are easily chewed and give the body a maximum of useful minerals: potassium, calcium, phosphorus. The fat contained in the sprat, for the most part, consists of Omega-3 fatty acids, which slow down the aging process, actively act against free radicals.

Harm and contraindications

Significantly harm the body can be hazardous resinous substances deposited on the sprat during smoking using resinous wood species. Due to the high salt content, smoked sprat is not recommended to be consumed in excessively large doses every day - this will make it difficult to remove fluid from the body, which in turn will adversely affect the kidneys.

Hot smoked Baltic sprat- fish from the Herring family, caught in the Baltic Sea and cooked by hot smoking.

Perhaps the most famous fish in Soviet times was the sprat. Yes, and in modern society, at the mention of a no less common and beloved dish - jacket potatoes - one immediately comes to mind pickled cucumber and sprat. But in the West, this product is considered a delicacy. Sprat, or fish of the herring family, differs in names according to the place of capture. For example, the Baltic sprat is caught in the Baltic Sea, the Caspian sprat is caught in the Caspian Sea and, by analogy, the Black Sea and European sprats, the Azov-Black Sea sprat. In appearance, this is a miniature fish, rarely exceeding a length of 10 cm and resembling a herring.

The main useful substances of sprat are the presence of a large amount of calcium and phosphorus, but the fish must be eaten whole in order to get calcium fully absorbed by the body. This element is involved in the formation of bone tissue, maintains healthy hair, nails and teeth. Sprat also contains useful omega-3, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and therefore is a valuable product for our body, having an anti-atherosclerotic effect, reducing the level of harmful triglycerides, and is a useful product for cardiovascular diseases.

In our country, you can buy sprat in canned, salted and fresh-frozen form. The price category is average, it has useful and gustatory properties, so the consumption of sprat is quite extensive. Fresh or freshly frozen sprats in cooking are marinated, salted or simply fried in sunflower oil. Do not forget to turn on the hood, this is a “fragrant” process, but if you keep the sprat in a vinegar-salt solution for a short time in advance, you can get rid of this drawback. But most often sprats are used in the preparation of sprats. Mistresses like this fish also because it does not need to be cleaned.

Hot-smoked sprat is becoming a popular type of fish products on store shelves. The technology for preparing this type of sprat consists in smoking decaying wood products. The mode for the most complete flow of the process should be as follows: the temperature is below 115 degrees C, the smoking time is about 4 hours. Nothing pre-marinated fish, no additives are used. As a result, the sprat does not lose its natural taste, it is baked with its own juice, only a specific flavor is added. Thus, the shelf life of smoked sprat is doubled, but storage even in the refrigerator should not exceed 72 hours. The fish does not lose its useful properties, but only acquires an additional flavor.

Description

Sprat is a fish of the herring family. Most often, sprats are used in the preparation of sprats.

Cooking hot smoked sprats occurs by treating fish with decaying wood products. As a result, you get fish meat with a specific smell. After hot smoking, the shelf life of sprats is doubled due to the increase in preservatives during smoking.

A popular type of fish products on store shelves is becoming hot smoked sprat. For smoking fish, a temperature below 115 degrees, in which the fish is about 4 hours, should not be used. With the right smoking process, the fish does not lose its natural taste, it is baked with its own juice, and only a specific aroma is added. It is better not to store hot smoked fish in the refrigerator for more than 72 hours. It can be served as a main course or as part of a fish appetizer.

Hot smoked sprat: Useful properties.

Hot smoked sprats are classified as sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Also, when eating fish, the body is saturated with calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium. A plate of hot-smoked sprats in your daily diet will increase the nutritional value of your body.

Sprat contains a large amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have an anti-atherosclerotic effect on the body, reduce the level of harmful lipoproteins and low-density triglycerides. Thus, if it is properly cooked, then the benefits of sprats are obvious for people with cardiovascular diseases.

The beneficial properties of sprats are due to the high content of calcium, which is necessary for the body for the full functioning of many organs and systems. After all, a person directly depends on the intake of this valuable microelement into the body, since it affects the formation of bone tissue, which, in turn, affects a snow-white smile, slender posture and bone strength.

In addition, the main use of sprat is not in fish meat, but in the ridge, scales, tail and bones. It is in these parts that contains the greatest amount of calcium and phosphorus. Therefore, the sprat must be eaten correctly, and cooked as a whole, without trying to separate the meat from the bones. There is also vitamin D in the sprat, which is so necessary for people with osteoporosis, as well as for pregnant women and children.

Sprat is useful for improving the condition of bone tissue. Therefore, it is often included in the diet of patients or convalescents who are in the process of rehabilitation. Easily digestible protein, vitamins and minerals make sprat a good dietary product.

However, the calorie content of sprat and its beneficial properties often depend on the method of preparation. Traditionally, this fish is familiar to us in the form of canned food - spicy salted fish in vinegar or tomato sauce. A variety of flavors, spices, sugar, preservatives, vinegar and sauce can significantly increase the calorie content of this fish, which is lean in principle. The calorie content of sprat in its pure form is about 135 kcal per 100 grams of product.

Hot smoked sprat: Harmful properties.