Bottarga
Bottarga, essentially, is a salt cured roe sac. The roe is salted heavily, which draws out the moisture, and then it is hung to age for a period of time. The result is something similar to parmesan cheese, but with an eggy-briny flavor. It's a perfect compliment to light pasta dishes with herbs and citrus.
We made this bottarga with shad roe, but we have also made it with cobia and snakehead. Generally speaking, we like to eat fish roe fresh- either fried, or brined into caviar, but sometimes we have more than we can eat fresh, or the roe doesn't lend itself well to caviar or cooking. Cobia is a good example of that: the roe sac can be huge, 5-6 pounds, and the eggs are tiny, seemingly impossible to separate from the membrane. Transforming the roe sac into a long lasting, umami rich ingredient is a great way to make the most of the animal.
The method is pretty straight forward- salt, more salt, and some hanging time.
Bottarga
Prep time: 30 minutes active, 1 week inactive
Method:
Remove the roe sac from the fish, avoiding tearing or puncturing the delicate membrane.
Rinse in ice cold water to remove blood and any other debris. Pat dry.
In a non-reactive container, put down a 1” layer of salt. Place the roe on the salt, and cover with more salt.
Cover and place in a cool, dark place, like a pantry or cabinet away from heat sources. Do not refrigerate. After a day, remove from salt. Discard any wet salt and repeat the process with fresh salt. Repeat this process until the salt is no longer saturated, 2-3 days for smaller roe, up to a week with larger sacs.
Once the roe sac is mostly dry and the salt is no longer saturated after sitting overnight, use a brush or dry towel and remove salt that is stuck to the roe.
Tie a loop with butcher twine on the sac to facilitate hanging. Rub it with oil and hang for 4+ days in a cure chamber (~52F/70% humidity). You can also hang it in your refrigerator, but the results are not quite as good and will vary depending on the temperature and humidity of your fridge. Check the bottarga often as it is hanging. It’ll take around a week, give or take, depending on the size of the roe you use and how humid the environment you’re hanging it in is. You don't want it to dry too much and become overly crumbly. It's done when it feels dense but not entirely dry. It should have some give to it like a semi-firm cheese.
Store wrapped in refrigerator or seal and freeze for long term storage. To use, slice, grate, or zest like you would parmesan cheese.
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