What if you piled a whole lot of cold fish on a pizza? If you’re Russian, it doesn’t sound so bad. In fact, they love it. For Americans, though, it might be a bit of an acquired taste unless they’re already die-hard seafood fans.

Russians refer to this type of pizza as mockba, which is also their word for Moscow. So let’s just call it Moscow-style pizza. And at eateries like Correa’s in Russia’s capital city, mockba has been a hit for years.

Founded by Isaac Correa, a Manhattan-born chef of Puerto-Rican descent, the restaurant boasts plenty of traditional menu items, from spaghetti and steaks to teriyaki chicken, BBQ-glazed Buffalo wings and bruschetta—salmon bruschetta being an especially popular item.

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Another hit on the menu is a pizza topped with lightly salted salmon and nonfat sour cream (pictured at top). Correa has also been to known to top a pizza with tiger shrimp, zucchini, aged Parmesan and pesto sauce.

But mockba is in a class by itself. Although ingredients may vary, a mockba pizza typically gets topped with four types of fish—sardines, tuna, mackerel and salmon. It’s then garnished with onions and herbs and served cold. Now and then, some adventurous Russian chef might even toss on some roe or red herring.

What types of herbs do Russians use on their mockba pizza? It’s unclear, but the Russia Beyond website reports that they dig dill on just about everything. “Foreigners joke that not one dish in Russia can be cooked without this herb,” the site states. “There is some truth in it, really!”

Russia Beyond continues: “Seriously, when going to [a] pizzeria in Russia, you can order very familiar kinds of pizza from the menu, such as Four Cheese, Diablo, Hawaii—but they will always [include] this green surprise.”

Food & Ingredients