Name: Coulibiac
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Russian
Ingredients: 350 g mushrooms, stalks removed and caps finely diced; 1 bunch dill, well-washed and dried then roughly shredded; 100 g unsalted butter; salt and freshly ground white pepper; 1½ cups cold cooked Jasmine rice; a little hot melted butter; 1 medium-sized brown onion, finely chopped; 1 x 900 g skinless salmon fillet, pin bones removed; 2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and cut into 5mm slices; 300-350 ml milk; 30 ml vegetable oil; 10 g caster sugar; 8 g salt; 150 g eggs, weighed out of the shell [about 3-4 eggs]; 250 g plain flour, preferably strong bread flour; 8 g dried yeast; ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 eggs; 100 ml double cream [45% fat]; 120 g soft unsalted butter; 50 ml milk; 125 g plain flour; 1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

French

By Damien Pignolet

Published 2005

About

In its Russian homeland, the origins of koulibiaca appear to be a humble fish or meat pie made from bread dough, crushed wheat, dill and onions. In contrast, the version created by French chefs employed by the Russian nobility during the nineteenth century called for sturgeon and its spinal cord [known as vesiga], rice, mushrooms and hard-boiled eggs, all encased in brioche or puff pastry and enriched with a final injection of hot butter through the crust.

Coulibiac is