This French adaptation of the Russian original (Koulibiac) consists of a creamy melange of fresh salmon, rice, hard-cooked eggs, mushrooms, shallots and dill enclosed in a hot pastry envelope. European cooks have adapted and varied the recipe in many ways, making it with brioche dough or puff pastry and filling it with various additions such as chicken and mushrooms, onions, parsley and shallots. Coulibiacs can be large or small but are classically oval in shape. They can be served as a first or main course.