Start your dining with a smoked sturgeon dish

Stofa restaurant opened its doors to customers last Wednesday.

Stofa is an old Norse word that means stove. It was also used to describe the heat source found in the main room of a house, where people would meet to eat together.

That warmth is what the new restaurant in Ottawa is trying to recreate.

Although they have been in business for only one week, one of their starters has already been in high demand: the smoked sturgeon dish.

The dish has multiple elements. It includes the smoked sturgeon, an eastern European dish called bigos, horseradish sour cream, potatoes, pickled beets, new dill pickles, and pumpernickel shard.

Owner of Stofa restaurant, Jason Sawision, was on All in a Day's D is for Dinner segment, this week, to share the recipe for a starter he says has been in high demand since his restuarant opened last week.

Smoked sturgeon dish

(Makes six servings)

Ingredients:

Smoked Sturgeon

• 1 sturgeon loin.
• 2 litres of water (about 8 cups).
• 115 grams of salt (about 6 tablespoons).
• 75 grams of sugar (about 6 tablespoons).
• 2 tablespoons of pickling spice.

Instructions:

1. Combine salt, sugar, pickling spice and water in a pot, and bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Allow to cool, and place sturgeon loin in brine for 24 hours.
3. Remove sturgeon loin from the brine, and smoke in a smoker with high heat for two hours.
4. Allow to cool then slice to desired thickness.

Horseradish Sour Cream

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of whipped cream.
• 3 tablespoons of prepared horseradish.
• ½ cup of sour cream.

Instructions:

1. Combine the sour cream and horseradish, then fold whipped cream into the mix and reserve.

Bigos

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of sauerkraut.
• 1 can of tomatoes.
• ½ cup of red wine.
• 1 onion (chopped).
• 2 cloves of garlic.
• 1 tablespoon of ground allspice.
• 1 tablespoon of caraway seed.
• 0.2 kilogram of double-smoked bacon.

Instructions:

1. Sauté bacon and onions together until soft.
2. Add all other ingredients and stew together on low heat for one hour.
3. Add water if the mix gets too dry.

Potatoes (sous-vide)

Ingredients:

• 2 Yukon gold potatoes.

Instructions:

1. Peel and cut potatoes into small disks about ½ centimetre thick.
2. Place cut potatoes in a vacuum seal bag with canola oil and salt and seal.
3. Cook in a simmering water bath until potatoes are just cooked through.

Pickled beets

Ingredients:

• 5 beets.
• ½ cup of white wine vinegar.
• 1 cup of water.
• Salt and sugar to taste.
• Pickling spice.

Instructions:

1. Roast beets in an oven until a knife can easily be inserted through.
2. Remove beets and allow to slightly cool, then peel the skin off and cut into small wedges and set aside.
3. Combine white wine vinegar, water, salt, sugar and pickling spice in a pot, and bring to a boil.
4. Pour liquid over beets and allow to rest in the fridge overnight.
5. Remove beets and set aside.

New dill pickles

Ingredients:

• 5 Lebanese cucumbers.
• 30 grams Kosher salt (about 2 tablespoons).
• 1 litre of water (about 4 cups of water).
• 1 tablespoon of pickling spice.
• Fresh dill.
• 1 clove garlic (sliced).

Instructions:

1. Combine water with salt, pickling spice, garlic and fresh dill. Heat solution until the salt completely dissolves. Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Cut the cucumbers in finger-width sections and place in a container.
3. Pour the liquid over the cucumbers and allow to rest overnight.
4. Remove cucumbers and set aside.

Pumpernickel Shard

Ingredients:

• 20 grams of ground dried pumpernickel bread (about 1 ⅓ cups).
• 13 grams of egg white.
• 18 grams of gelatin leaf (soaked).
• 64 grams of water (about 4 tablespoons).
• 10 grams of flour (about 1 tablespoon).
• 10 grams of isomalt powder.
• 5 grams of salt (about 1 teaspoon).

Instructions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients together, then add egg white and stir.
2. Melt the gelatin in the water and pour into the pumpernickel mix to create a thick paste.
3. Quickly spread mix as thin as you can onto parchment paper.
4. Bake at 350 F until the mix is dry, and looks like a cracker.
5. Remove and dehydrate overnight to ensure that it remains very crispy.

1. Combine smoked sturgeon, bigos, horseradish sour cream, potatoes, pickled beets, new dill pickles, and pumpernickel shard on a plate.
2. Garnish with sliced radish, micro radish sprout, caviar and fennel pollen.