so you have a blog. and some people read it. and you get email. which is nice. and every so often you get a big surprise like this and then other times you might just get a message from some guy in florida who participates in smoked mullet competitions and is himself an aficionado of the ‘roe sac’. and the world gets smaller still.
unbelievable… if i may share this with you…
FRET, I live in Florida and we are at about the height of our mullet roe season now. Next weekend is the annual Terra Ciea Mullet Smoke Off. Although, uh, ‘culturally removed’ it is the source of all things good about mullet fish. Let me tell you about bottarga made on the spot. Rather than dried, it is slow smoked at 115 degrees F for anywhere from 6 to 12 hours. The resultant product is nearly dry, but has not reached the temperature to ruin the texture and make it grainy. If we get the fire too hot (135F) the roes turn into a hard dry puck, with a grainy cornbread texture and little taste.The dried kind the ‘foreigners’ make is good, but it needs a little help to live up to the standard of Florida "Cracker Caviar". The flavor of a smoked bottarga is a combination of salt+fish+egg yoke+smoke flavor and it has a soft but firm texture. By peeling the sac off the outside, and gently mixing the eggs with a small amount of olive oil. it becomes the most beautiful red orange yellow gold caviar you have ever laid eyes on. I cannot describe what happens inside the mouth, other than it grows rapidly on the palate until the flavor is bigger than your mouth. Here’s the kicker. I have 4 pair in my fridge right now, perfectly smoked and ready to eat. Just came out of the smoker and on Sat. I will make one more pasta dish, penne with bottarga garlic alfredo, and then will have to give the rest away. Next weekend at the mullet cook off there will be so much it will go to waste. If I could share some with you, I know you would enjoy this treat, it is the stuff you had expected, and so much more. I will think of you hungry guys while the competition rages. RK
so ok, now i am totally enamored with this mullet smoking RK guy. he’s obviously got one helluva serious passion for fish roe. and he wants to share it – with me! and i am so all about sharing. sharing makes the world go round! sharing and money. or perhaps it’s money and sharing. yeah, money and sharing. still. all good. and yes, it crosses my mind that RK could be a serial killing cyber stalker, sending me arsenic flecked fish eggs. but i quickly disregard that potential scenario as one that feels atmost like an outside chance, and decide that something this good is perhaps worth the risk of death. i have nothing, if not an adventurous spirit.
the details are long and involve the infamous b3 from the past bottarga classes, fed-ex, dry-ice, a pick up across town in the midst of a rain storm – and my dear friend and fellow food fanatic,rick beresford. the mullet roe hit town last tuesday and on thursday afternoon rick and i gathered in my kitchen and had ourselves thanksgiving, christmas, new years eve and our birthdays – all rolled into one. our afternoon also involved a very decadent and full bodied rideau 2005 petite sirah which we felt held up beautifully to the very deep and rich flavor of the roe. overall i’d say while usually quite pleased with my daily existence, we were especially happy to be alive during those particular 3 hours.
RK had enclosed a letter with our care package. it was both instructional and inspirational. he spoke of creamed mullet eggs on toast with lots of black pepper, that’ll make you cry. he suggested whisking 1:1 into chicken eggs with sauteed green onion and globs of brie to yield a killer omelet.he’s added slices to mac and cheese. and something about the roe being insane in an oyster and spinach white lasagna…
he also said: "simple is best." a food philosophy that i tend to adhere to. "a saltine cracker, a thin swipe of cream cheese, a skin-on slice of roe and a drop of lemon. hmmm, what else could one ask for? ‘cept maybe one with a piece of a smoked mullet fillet with a few drops of hot sauce. oh, and beer…".
but we went our own path, with a paper thin sliced lemon, some parsley and tomato blushed stokes english mayonnaise on a baguette with a sprinkling of dill leaves.
and some off the cuff riff on taramasalata made with one entire smoked roe sac, olive oil, milk soaked bread, garlic, onion, parsley and lemon juice – all tossed in the vita-mix and pureed. and in between all of that we’d take the orange sliced coins of roe, just ever so lightly grilled on a hot plate- and place them on top of some bread with olive oil and lemon – or sometimes just popping a bit into our mouths au naturale.
we loved the stuff. but really… the grilled halloumi – a cheese from cypress that browns not melts, sandwiched with some lemon and parsley and a smoked coin drizzled with olive oil? just. too. much.
now i’ve got a smoked mullet fillet in my freezer that i’ve yet to experience – a tease, RK says – and 2 more pair of roe sacs currently reside in my dehydrator set to very low heat. they were soaked overnight in water, as per his directions which leached out some of the excess salt, and then in another 2 days they’ll get vacuum packed to prolong their life and i’ll use them similarly to their high-end foreign cousin, the sicilian bottarga.
RK ended his letter with: "hope a taste of florida warms your day, it has warmed mine sending it to you".
rick and i both got the slightest bit choked up…
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