Lefkas Mullet Bottarga

Bottarga is an Italian delicacy, usually of Sicilian or Sardinian origin but in fact common in many Mediterranean areas. The name comes from Arabic butarikh ("salted fish eggs") . Sometimes called the poor man's caviar, Bottarga is the roe pouch of either tuna fish (Tonno) or the Gray Mullet fish (Muggine) or sometimes swordfish, which is massaged by hand to eliminate air pockets, then dried and cured in sea salt for a few weeks. The result is a dry hard slab, which is then sliced or grated. Its use in Italian and Sicilian cuisines is extensive and its culinary properties can be compared to those of dry anchovies. Bottarga is often served with lemon juice as an appetizer or used in pasta dishes. In Greece and Turkey, it is preserved in a layer of dried beeswax and used to prepare taramosalata.