The Greek cured-roe dip of Clean Monday and Lent: tarama beaten with soaked bread, grated onion, lemon and a slow stream of olive oil, “like making mayonnaise.” Real taramasalata is beige; the bright pink kind is dyed.
Untested: I have not cooked this one yet. It is here because the Offal dive needed it, and it is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 ounces (100 g) white tarama (cured cod or carp roe)
- 10 1/2 ounces (300 g) stale white bread, crusts removed
- 3/4 cup (170 to 180 ml) olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
- 1 medium red onion, grated
Directions
- Soak the bread. Soak the bread in water, then squeeze it as dry as you can.
- Pulp. Process the bread, grated onion and tarama in a food processor to a smooth pulp.
- Lemon. Add half the lemon juice and pulse.
- Oil. With the machine running, add the oil in a slow, steady stream, “like making mayonnaise,” until the dip is smooth and pale.
- Adjust. Taste and add the rest of the lemon juice as needed. Chill before serving with bread and olives.
Notes
Source Adapted from Eli K. Giannopoulos, “Taramasalata,” My Greek Dish.
Variations Diane Kochilas notes a potato or (in northern Greece) almond base in place of bread, garlic or scallion additions, and vinegar in place of lemon. The traditional texture, from a mortar and pestle, is slightly grainy.
Finding tarama Kochilas writes that undyed white tarama is “difficult, if not impossible, to find in the United States.” Pink tarama works; the colour is dye, not flavour.
The Offal dive on the Food site covers this part in depth.
The photo The photo shows the dyed pink kind.