TARAMOSALATA with POTATOES

Sometimes taramosalata is made with potatoes. They replace bread, which is the more common ingredient used to dilute tarama. I don't know if this is a regional preference or just a recipe variation. Since tarama is often eaten during Lent, when there are many fasting restrictions, potatoes might have been added to make a more filling salad.

I have a particular fondness for this recipe, and it's slowly becoming my go-to recipe for tarama salad. It's lemony, with a mild tarama flavour, but if you like it stronger, you can add a little more tarama. The taste of the potatoes adds more complexity to the salad than bread does. 

Tarama made with potatoes reminds me of the following story, which my mother loves to tell: When my parents were newly married, my mother made taramosalata with potatoes instead of bread. It was around Easter time, and relatives were coming for dinner. When my father tasted it, he hit the roof. "What have you done? he asked her. Why did you put potatoes in the tarama? They'll be laughing at us!" He had never heard of a version of the recipe made with potatoes and he was very upset. His antics ruined my mother's confidence in the quality of the dinner she had prepared. Neither one of my parents was happy to see the company arrive. As it turned out the taramosalata was eaten with pleasure, and the guests complimented her cooking! I don't know what exactly if anything that incident taught my father; he was a man with a hot temper but I don't remember him criticizing my mother's cooking.

This tarama is based on a recipe I came across years ago when it was published in the New York Times.  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups vegetable oil
• 1/4 of an onion, chopped
• 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled, peeled, cooled and chopped
• 3/4 cup blanched almonds, ground up
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) tarama
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

• In a food processor mix the onion, potatoes and almonds until they are finely incorporated and the mixture looks smooth.
• Add the tarama and keep mixing until blended.
• Add the lemon juice, and mix.
• Add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream mixing constantly. Stop when the salad has the consistency of mayonnaise 
• Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
• This should make about four cups, plenty for leftovers or to send home with guests.

What is Tarama?

What we purchase as bottled tarama is the salted and cured roe (or caviar) of carp fish. What is roe? That’s the ripe ovary and the masses of fish eggs it contains. Carp roe (or hard roe), is aged for about a year before it’s ready to be sold as tarama. Tarama is not eatable plain and should be turned into taramosalata before eating. Taramosalata is made by adding bread, lemon juice and oil to a portion of tarama. The mixture should have a light orange or salmon colour. The more it is diluted with bread and oil (or potatoes as is the case in the recipe here), the lighter its colour becomes. 

I truly would not recommend buying ready-made tarama salad (taramosalata); it contains chemicals and food colouring and who knows what else! If you find it ready-made for sale and it looks a hot pink colour, put your sunglasses on and run! 

TARAMOSALATA DIP or TARAMA SALAD

Here is recipe #2 for tarama. It comes courtesy of my mother's friend Litsa, who makes it often when she entertains. The recipe here is diluted with a larger quantity of oil and bread; this gives it a subtler flavour and makes it ideal to serve as a dip. It can be accompanied by crackers, pita slices, or sliced vegetables such as celery and cucumbers. Taramosalata can be served anytime, but it's a favourite recipe to have during Lent.


Ingredients:

1. 3 tablespoons tarama
2. 2 cups vegetable oil (not olive oil)
3. 10 slices white bread, crusts removed
4. 1/4 cup lemon juice
   
   Directions:

• Immerse the bread in a bowl of cold water. When it is soaked, remove it and squeeze the bread thoroughly to get rid of excess water.
• Place the tarama in the bowl of a food processor. Add the oil and start to blend. Continue blending until the tarama and oil are well mixed.
• Add the bread, a bit at a time, while blending all the while. You will see that the tarama will begin to thicken.
• Keep blending while adding the lemon juice. All the ingredients should be well incorporated. The tarama will be ready when it has the consistency of thick mayonnaise.

TARAMA SALAD (Taramosalata)

I was young and just learning the ropes around the kitchen. A holiday was approaching, and we were to have a big gathering for dinner. I wanted to have something special to accompany our meal, so I decided to make a taramosalata, my first effort at making the famous Greek appetizer. This was many, many years ago, when Greek cookbooks were difficult to find at the bookstore, and when the Internet had not yet been born. Can you imagine such a time? Anyway, I knew that Craig Claiborne had a recipe for tarama in his tome "The New York Times Cook Book." I followed his recipe, and the results were wonderful. To my mind, this was and is the quintessential recipe for tarama! It's tangy, the olive oil gives it a great aroma, and the taste is as close to perfect as you can get. It reminds me of the tarama we order during Greek summer vacations when we descend ravenous at seaside Greek tavernas after a day of sun and sand and swimming. Here is Craig's recipe, with only one alteration by me: I added extra lemon juice.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons bottled tarama (carp roe)
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 slices white bread, crusts trimmed
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil 
• ¼ of an onion, finely grated
• 2 scallions, mostly white parts, well chopped 

Directions:

• Place the tarama and the lemon juice in the food processor and blend until thoroughly mixed.
• Meanwhile, soak the bread slices in cold water, not for very long, about half a minute. Remove them and squeeze the bread thoroughly.
• Add the bread to the mixture. Mix until thoroughly blended.
• Add the oil gradually. Keep blending until all the oil is incorporated and the mixture has the consistency of thick mayonnaise. 
• Stir in the grated onion and scallions.
• Place on a serving dish and decorate with Kalamata olives and a few Salonika peppers (these peppers are very similar to pepperoncini). A nice accompaniment would be some sliced tomatoes or cucumbers.  Serve as an appetizer with toast or pita bread.

Bottled tarama purchased at the supermarket

What we purchase as bottled tarama is the salted and cured roe of carp fish. What is roe? That’s the ripe ovary which contains masses of fish eggs. Carp roe (or hard roe), is aged for about a year before it’s ready to be sold as tarama. Tarama is not eatable plain and should be turned into taramosalata before eating. Taramosalata is made by adding bread, lemon juice and oil to a portion of tarama. The mixture should have a light orange colour. The more it is diluted with bread and oil, the lighter its colour becomes.