exhibit A
10 months ago i was introduced to bottarga and initially it didn’t go well. but really what i had gotten my hands on was bottarga’s ugly step cousin – some dried powdered tuna roe. it was, in my opinion – overpriced and somewhat pointless. wanting to understand the hype, from there the bottarga experience went from here (bad) to here (heavenly) to here (domestic, smoked and yes, heavenly). and now i am enamored with the stuff… because dear readers, listen to me,
IT’S THE BACON OF FISH…
that’s right. it is that good. stupidly good. it is absolute comfort food and it kicks mac and cheese’s ass from here to sardinia. i’ve had it three times in two days. and i could easily have it again tonight. but i am saving it. because otherwise it would be all gone and that would be just too sad.
the first night i decided to do it with bread crumbs and i used panko which was cheating and i have regrets. for what i would want in a breadcrumb, it’s a little too uniform, a little too crunchy – without having true substance. it’s meant to be used as a filler, or a coating for pan frying. really, it’s just a far cry from being italian and i know that neither mario nor lidia would have ever used panko. the italian gods knew that i’d thrown them an asian curve and well, next time i swear i will use a proper bread. because we’re talking bottarga here, folks. and it’s best to keep it all as it should be, if you know what i mean… and if you’re reading, i think you do.
exhibit A – i browned the panko in some olive oil with a touch of butter, then added salt and pepper and thinly sliced garlic. i grated about 1/4 cup of bottarga, zested a lemon and used some of the juice, chopped parsley and some minced chile pepper. i tossed it all with the pasta and grated some more bottarga on top.
and to all you egg fans out there, listen to this. the leftover breadcrumb bottarga mixture? i had saved about 2 tablespoons of it and the next morning i had it with a quickly fried egg – and it was outstanding. but truly outstanding. it was a gabrielle hamilton dish, a wannabe prune brunch menu item. but hers would have been served on a perfectly grilled slice of peasant bread with chopped cherry tomatoes.
gabrielle are you listening?
exhibit b
exhibit B – no bread crumbs, but everything else was pretty much the same. except no heat was used, just a raw mix of olive oil, bottarga, lemon zest, parsley and chile – tossed with the hot pasta. equally good if not better, and lighter for a warm august night in nashville.
and now can we please talk about the pasta? i know it looks like spaghetti, but dear readers, no… this is chitarra which entails an entirely different pasta making process. shaped like guitar strings, this square edged noodle is made by pressing sheets of semolina dough through tight rows of metal strings. and if you want the low down, i suggest you get the big picture from francois over at fx cuisine, because i just buy chitarra. but francois… well he is an insanely obsessive gastronome. i love this guy.
if you’ve not tried bottarga, then i suggest that you do. it’s very orderable and your $70 investment will make ten very generous portions. it comes in two lobes and one can be vacuum sealed and placed in the refrigerator for another time.
bottarga. i ‘m telling you…
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