Vobla is a Russian word for a fish called the Caspian roach (Rutilus caspicus, formerly recognized as subspecies of the Common Roach). Salt-dried vobla is a common Russian meal or snack that goes well with beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

. It is popular in many Russian households and beer restaurants.

The vobla has a typical size of 30-35 cm (max. published 45 cm) and a weight of 800 g (max. published 2000 g). It can be distinguished from its congeners in the Caspian Sea by the following characteristics:

• usually 42-44 scales along the lateral line
• dorsal fin usually with 9½ branched rays
• anal fin usually with 10½ branched rays
• rounded snout and subterminal mouth
• anal fins and pectoral pelvic are grey with dark margins

The vobla is found in brackish coastal waters of the northern and northwestern Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

 and enters Volga, Ural

Ural River

The Ural or Jayıq/Zhayyq , known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea. Its total length is 1,511 mi making it the third longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube...

, Emba

Emba River

The Emba River in west Kazakhstan rises in the Mugodzhar Hills and flows some 400 miles southwest into the Caspian Sea. It flows through the north of the Ust-Urt plateau, and reaches the Caspian by a series of shallow lagoons, which were navigable in the 18th century. The lower course traverses...

, Terek and Kura

Kura River

Kura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...

 drainages for spawning.

Salt-dried vobla is generally eaten without sauce

Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...

s or side dish

Side dish

A side dish, sometimes referred to as a side order or simply a side, is a food item that accompanies the entrée or main course at a meal.-Common types:...

es. Many people like to eat their Vobla with a glass of beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

, which lessens the salty taste of the fish.

Vobla could be considered a raw fish, but, in fact, it is neither raw nor cooked, but rather salt-cured. It is soaked in brine for some days and then is thoroughly air-dried for another two, which in the end acts as a form of chemical cooking.

Local people prefer the vobla as pan-fried.

External links

• Rutilus caspicus (Yakovlev, 1870) on fishbase.org
• Rutilus rutilus caspicus