The bottarga is an ancient product that is obtained from dried and seasoned fish eggs. Enriches the taste of many dishes, from the first to the second, of fish and not only
There are few ingredients that can give the dishes an intense flavor like the bottarga. Its origins are very ancient – we talk about one Preparation which is almost 3000 years old – and it was the Phoenicians who first carried this precious and delicious ingredient around the Mediterranean.
What is bottarga?
The translation of batārikh – the Arabic name of the bottarga – is literally "dried fish roe". This product is derived, in fact, from the drying and the subsequent salting of mullet eggs (the common mullet) or di tuna. To obtain it there is a need for a long and tiring process that starts with the extraction of fish eggs, their thorough cleaning and the subsequent one salting. The last step – after pressing and before marketing what is called "the Mediterranean caviar" – is the seasoning for at least 90 days, a period of time essential to give the bottarga the typical gold-amber color and the intense flavor that characterizes it.
Precisely because the process of making and maturing is very long and complicated, the bottarga has costs quite high. Depending on whether it is tuna bottarga or mullet (the most valuable and expensive) the price of a jar can vary from 50 to almost 300 euros.
Tuna bottarga and mullet roe
There are several types of bottarga. Tuna bottarga is the most common, with a color that goes from light pink to light brown. The taste is very intense.
The mullet roe is more fine, with a strong but more delicate compared to tuna, the consistency is compact and the color, a golden amber, must be uniform.
How to use bottarga in the kitchen
There are various uses of this prized ingredient in Italian cuisine. To taste it to full cut the piece of bottarga a thin slices and spread them on a toast of bread, seasoned with a thread of extra virgin olive oil. The most common way to use it (and even the simplest) is instead to grate it directly on the plates.
The bottarga is perfect for enriching appetizers of fish such as carpaccio and seafood salads, or in combination with a cheese like stracchino. The bottarga can also be grated on the oysters, then add the lemon juice. Moving on to the first courses, in addition to the famous ones spaghetti with bottarga and alle linguine with clams and baby squid, this product goes well with first courses of the sea – with cuttlefish black for example – and tasty second courses, always as an accompaniment to a main course with fish such as mullet, sea bream, sea bass and prawns, or a very tasty chicken with lemon to try absolutely.
Spaghetti with butter with lemon and bottarga
Returning to the first courses, there is another easy and quick recipe that has the bottarga as its protagonist. It's about a buttered pasta and lemon which is embellished with the bottarga. You will need:
300 g of spaghetti
80 g of bottarga
1 onion
2 lemons
60 g of butter, salt and black pepper
The preparation is very fast. In a pan, melt the butter slowly with the zest of a lemon. Then add the chopped onion and the juice of another lemon and cook everything very slowly. When the spaghetti is al dente put them in the pan and toss them. Season directly on the plate with bottarga and black pepper, the strong yet delicate flavor of this first course will win you over.
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