Foie Gras and Bird’s Milk with Pollock from RFC: What Made the O!Mega Taste Festival’s Gourmet Dinner So Special
For over two weeks, pollock has held a special place on restaurant menus in the capital of the Far East, on the shelves of the Samberi retail chain, and has even made its way onto the streets, becoming the star of a city-wide festival. The gourmet dinner served by three chefs was one of the highlights of the 4th gastronomic O!Mega Taste festival.
For the fourth time, the O!Mega Taste has created a feast of flavors in Vladivostok restaurants: 35 venues are serving special menus and gourmet dinners this year. Every time, the symphony of flavors is played in a different way. This summer, it resonates for the guests of the festival once again. There’s no doubt that a tremendous amount of work went into this. “The Russian Fishery Company catches pollock in the pristine waters of the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk and processes it on its super trawlers. Thanks to modern processing technologies and proper storage, this affordable and nutritious* product has become the basis for exceptional dishes. We don’t just catch pollock—we’re shaping a new culture of pollock consumption. This work involves organizing the O!Mega Taste festival,” said Nadezhda Zhidkova, the spokesperson for the Russian Fishery Company, as she opened the event.
The list of restaurants participating in the festival expands every year. This year, the steakhouse Vinoterra joined in. The restaurant got off to a strong start with the project—it hosted the final gourmet dinner at its venue/ The guests will surely remember it until next year.
"This is our restaurant’s first—and, I hope, not the last—time participating in the festival. Today, we’re ready to present pollock in a whole new light—as a promising discovery for chefs that deserves the attention of food connoisseurs. Pollock is no longer just ‘some kind of fish,’ as we’ll see that thanks to the chefs from three restaurants. Our main partner is the Russian Fishery Company—one of the Far East leaders in pollock harvesting—and we’ll be sampling their products today",
From the very first course, these masters of culinary art began to break down stereotypes and “introduced” pollock into French cuisine. The dinner began with pollock pâté served with sweet potato chips. Andrei Kuzlyakin, the head chef at Uliss Asia, decided to “hide” the fish—which had been ground into a light, airy, almost weightless texture—and serve it disguised as a “fake tomato,” immediately setting the stage for wonderful discoveries.
Another delicate dish with its own special touch awaited the guests. A signature dish of France appeared on the tables, but with a Far Eastern twist. While on the other side of Eurasia, a dish made from duck liver has been recognized as part of the cultural and gastronomic heritage, Vladivostok’s own pollock foie gras has also earned equally high praise from the guests. Before the dish disappeared from the plates, Maxim Prokopyev, the head chef at Vinoterra, spoke about it.
"We wanted to show that foie gras can be made not only from meat, but also from fish. It is made from pollock roe. This year, RFC introduced this new product, which has become a major trend in the festival menu sets. As we know, pollock roe is prized for its health benefits, affordability, nutritional value**, and, of course, its delicate flavor. First, we processed the roe until it reached a certain texture, and then we cooked it in a steamer. After that, I added a baked pear and some pear sauce",
The next course transported the guests to an entirely different culinary world. Carpaccio is traditionally associated with Italy, but the chefs decided to put their own Vladivostok spin on it. The result was a miso-marinated pollock carpaccio served with a Greek salad, a dish where European traditions meet Asian techniques. Not a single guest doubted that this aromatic, melt-in-your-mouth refined carpaccio would be a hit if it remained on the menu.
"When we were invited to serve this dinner, we were asked if pollock could be not only a popular fish but also a fine dining fish. We tried to answer that question. I wanted to combine European and Asian cuisine in this dish. I hope it will become associated with Vladivostok and will be our restaurant’s signature dish in the future",
The guests were captivated by the deep, fresh flavor of carpaccio. But they were even more surprised by sampling cannoli filled with leek and pollock with zucchini and nettle sauce. The dish was supplemented with salted grapes—a product that Maxim Prokopyev had been perfecting for several years. The fermented grapes added sweetness, tartness, and subtle saltiness to the dish all at once.
The next course was a tournedo. This name usually appears on the menus of steakhouse restaurants. Here, the centerpiece of the dish was pollock in a green pea sauce, which, as it turns out, pairs surprisingly well with the fish.
"With this dish, we wanted to celebrate the arrival of summer at long last. Everything around us has turned green and it is a delight for the eye. We wanted to bring you some joy, too. We steamed pollock with spinach leaves and scallop mousse. And we serve it with green pea purée. The shortbread fish with nori is a nod to our festival’s star—the nutritious pollock from RFC",
According to its creator, the most home-style and family-friendly dish of the evening was Thai-style pollock with coconut sauce. This latest course, just like the previous one, evoked the spirit of summer with its vibrant colors. The dish had familiar hints of tom yum, yet the fish itself remained the “heart” of the dish, rather than merely a backdrop for the sauce.
Just how far can we go with our experiments with pollock? Maxim Prokopyev answered this question without saying a word, taking it upon himself to bring the gourmet evening to an end. He made a dessert—not the fish-shaped dessert that the guests had expected, but one featuring pollock roe. It was included in the famous Primorsky “Bird’s Milk.” A compressed apple added just the right amount of tartness to this sweet treat. After the dessert, the guests were still marveling at how pollock roe could blend so naturally into the sweet finale of the dinner, leaving a pleasant aftertaste.
The O!Mega Taste Pollock Festival ran from May 18 to June 5. Pollock dishes were featured in restaurants and cafes throughout Vladivostok, where diners could sample unique chef-crafted sets. Among them are Syrovarnya, Tiama, Millionka, Omelet Station cafe, ZUMA, TOKYO, Tokyo Market, UMAMI RAMEN CLUB, Eda i Tochka, Madam Mei, Gastromarket Sytyi, Tooman, Chifan, Baba Toma, Nostalgia, Pian Se, Uliss Asia, Vento, Tbilissimo, the Vasya Lozhkin Museum, Il Patio, Haekeumkang (Lotte Hotel), Rendezvous, Ichiban, Milk and Honey, Aquamarine, Bistro Patrokl, and Vinoterra.
At the same time, the festival expanded into retail—pollock products were offered at a special price at the Samberi chain.
The gastronomic festival was organized by the Russian Fishery Company, the Ministry of Tourism of Primorsky Krai, the Gastronomic Map of Russia federal project, the Tourist Information Center of Primorsky Krai (Visit Primorye), and the National Center RUSSIA in Primorsky Krai.
