Taramasalata

By Gabrielle Hamilton

Taramasalata
Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Pamela Duncan Silver.
Total Time
15 minutes
Rating
3(233)
Comments
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While this is a sturdy and reliable recipe for making the greek cod roe spread called taramasalata from scratch, funnily enough it doesn't call for cod roe. I've come to prefer the commonly available and affordable salmon roe instead. If you are putting together a greek meze plate — with feta and kalamata olives, some marinated octopus and skordalia — save the brine from the feta and use it to season the taramasalata instead of lemon juice and see what you think. It lends a great acidity. Be sure to take the extra step of grating the cooked potato instead of more conveniently throwing it into the food processor and whizzing — to avoid a gluey texture. It'll keep in the fridge for a week and can be used a few ways all summer — add a grated white onion and toss with shaved celery and diced tomatoes as a salad dressing. Or thin with a little of the potato cooking water and some good olive oil and consider it as a sauce for whole grilled fish.

Featured in: Not Your Supermarket’s Taramasalata

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Ingredients

Yield:A generous 3 cups
  • 4ounces salmon roe
  • Juice of ½ to 1 lemon
  • 1clove garlic peeled
  • 8ounces panko soaked in water and squeezed
  • Olive oil
  • 8ounces peeled, boiled Yukon Gold potato (about 2 medium potatoes)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

234 calories; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 76 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place roe in the food processor with lemon juice. Microplane the garlic, and tap into the container.

  2. Step 2

    Purée until smooth and orangy-pink and “creamy.”

  3. Step 3

    Add wet panko and a drizzle of olive oil, and purée until blended, now creamy and viscous.

  4. Step 4

    Transfer to a bowl, and with a tiny teardrop side of a box grater, grate in the potato. Whisk all together.

  5. Step 5

    Season with a little salt and more lemon juice to taste.

Ratings

3 out of 5
233 user ratings
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Comments

Joyce

Taramasalata is one of my favourite mezes! However I prefer the version without potato, such as Rosemary Barron's recipe (Flavors of Greece). Krinos also sells jars of carp roe, which is what I use when I make it. I usually also have a small jar of the "pink-orange" stuff in my fridge though. And I save the potatoes for roasting with garlic, rosemary and lemon juice, or for making skorthalia which I love to eat as a dip.

Margotvov

No, no, no! It is taramOsalata, first. Grated onion, no garlic, white bread crumbs, not potato, and some parsley. Otherwise, okay.

George Theodoris

I am of Greek ancestry and grew up on Taramosslata. Like the author I occasionally buy a jar of the Krinos which is acceptable but not terrific. I love Salmon roe and have heard of people using it for tarama, so I was excited to try. But the results were inedible- gluey, pasty, fishy. I felt like I wasted time and money (salmon roe is not inexpensive). Before publishing recipes The NY Times needs to test them more. They often turn out not as good as they sound, but this one was a true disaster.

Terry

Sorry, I am a big fan of Gabrielle Hamilton, but this recipe was simply awful. I made Taramosalata as an appetizer for Easter. I ended up putting it all down the garbage disposal. I love salmon roe (or almost any other kind of roe) but this tasted like fish glue.

K. Meadow

Usually I'm wowed by GH, but every so often she makes a colossal misstep. Agree with others that the potato made it inedible, cement-like, very weird. I ate Tarama all over Greece and it was pretty consistently good. None tasted of potato.

sally

What do you do with the potato?? It’s not in the instructions.

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