Bottarga

A rare (for me) food post.

Some years ago, a friend gave me a little jar of red-brown dusty granules with 'Amalfi Bottarga' written on the cap. I asked him what it was and how it is used, and he said something like 'It's sort of fishy stuff isn't it?'. Obviously he knew little more than I did.

When this friend lived in Bath, we had a tradition of buying each other delicacies whenever we came upon them, and we often invited each other to dinner.

Prior to the Bottarga, he had given me a tin of 'Mudfish' which he had bought in an oriental food market in Guildford. It was literally what it said on the tin. It was a dirty grey colour and looked, felt and tasted like mud. It even had a high percentage of real sand in it.

Because of the tin of Mudfish, the jar of Bottarga stayed in the cupboard. It has been there for years.

Then, the other day, I heard someone say how they have just discovered a wonderful ingredient for spaghetti called Bottarga which is made from dried and salted fish roe - traditionally Grey Mullet but often Tuna.

My interest was reignited and I delved in the back of the cupboard to see if it was still there. It was.

I have just looked up Bottarga for descriptions, advice and recipes and am grateful for the advice to ignore any 'best before' dates on containers. My little jar has no 'best before' date at all, but 5 years is usually the minimum, they say.

I am sure all you gastronomes know all about this stuff, but tonight will be a rare event for me (and her) - a new food experience.