Taramosalata
A Greek meze eaten especially in Lent, when meat is forbidden but roe is not. Homemade taramosalata is pale cream, not pink — the vivid pink of shop versions is usually dye. It is made like mayonnaise: roe with soaked bread is the emulsifier, and the oil goes in in a stream. The proportion matters — little roe is used, since it is very salty and intense. Too much makes the dip over-salty and overwhelming.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Bread and roe 10 min
- Emulsifying with oil 10 min
- Chilling 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSoak the bread and squeeze it
Soak the crustless bread in water for 5 minutes, then squeeze it hard in your fist until it stops dripping. The bread gives taramosalata body and softens the salt of the roe. Too wet, it thins the emulsion.
Ingredients: 80 g cured tarama roe · 120 g stale white bread · 200 ml water · ½ pcs onion
Squeezed in the fist — wet bread thins the dip.Pound the roe with the onion
Pound the roe with the grated onion in a mortar or briefly in a processor to a smooth paste. Grate the onion very finely and lightly squeeze out the excess juice: a little juice brings freshness, while larger pieces would stay in the dip as crunchy bits.
Ingredients: 80 g cured tarama roe · 120 g stale white bread · 200 ml water · ½ pcs onion
Roe and onion to a smooth paste — the emulsion's base.Add the bread and some lemon
Add the squeezed bread and half the lemon juice and blend smooth. The acid helps hold the emulsion and balances the saltiness of the roe.
Ingredients: 80 g cured tarama roe · 120 g stale white bread · 200 ml water · ½ pcs onion
Mix the olive oil with neutral oil
Combine the olive oil with the neutral oil half and half. Extra virgin alone easily turns bitter when blitzed in a processor, and its strong flavour masks the roe. In Greece sunflower oil alone is often used too.
Ingredients: 100 ml olive oil · 100 ml neutral oil · 1½ pcs lemon · 2 tbsp water
Add the fat in a thin stream
With the processor running, pour in the oils in a very thin stream, as for mayonnaise, over about 5 minutes. The dip pales, thickens and turns fluffy. Poured too fast it will not bind and turns greasy.
Ingredients: 100 ml olive oil · 100 ml neutral oil · 1½ pcs lemon · 2 tbsp water
A thin stream, as for mayonnaise — it pales and fluffs.Adjust with lemon and water
Add the rest of the lemon juice and a spoon of cold water if too thick. It should be light and fluffy like a mousse, not dense like a pâté. Do not salt — the roe is salty enough.
Ingredients: 100 ml olive oil · 100 ml neutral oil · 1½ pcs lemon · 2 tbsp water
Chill half an hour
Spoon into a bowl and chill 30 minutes. The emulsion firms and the roe mellows. Freshly blended it tastes sharp and fishy; after chilling it is creamy and balanced.
Ingredients: 80 g cured tarama roe · 120 g stale white bread · 200 ml water · ½ pcs onion
Serve with oil and pita
Make a hollow with a spoon, pour in a little olive oil, add the olives and serve with warm pita or raw vegetables. In Greece it is also served with fish and with fasolada.
Ingredients: 8 pcs Kalamata olives · 4 pcs pita
Before you start
White tarama, not red
Look for tarama roe that is beige or pale pink — deep red or vivid pink is usually dyed. White carp tarama is regarded in Greece as the finest. Greek shops sell it in small jars.
The potato version
In some parts of Greece boiled potato replaces the bread, giving a thicker, silkier dip. The proportion is the same — 120 g of riced potato in place of the bread.
Four days in the fridge
Taramosalata keeps up to four days in the fridge in an airtight jar under a film of oil. If it splits in the cold, blend it again with a spoon of cold water.