Bottarga

[mshumi]

Anyone know who sells it in Vancouver?

[extra_virgin]

Also now at Nicli Antica Pizzeria - bottarga pizza....

[tuttiamore]

I found it the other day at La Ghianda, which is on Alma near Fourth Ave. South-west corner.
Almost ordered it from a Sardinian deli in Houston, Texas. Then I walked into La Ghianda
and saw they were serving spaghetti bottarga for lunch. So I stayed and had some.

[fmed]

You can now get Bottarga retail at La Grotta on Commercial Dr. (They imported it for some chefs and made it available to the public). They have both the Mullet and Tuna roe. Not cheap (the packages below where $30 and $40 or so):

[extra_virgin]

Also now available retail at La Ghianda on Alma at 4th (La Quercia's offshoot).

[moyenchow]

I was in H-Mart on Robson yesterday and was looking through their prepared side dish section (near the check-out and by the freezer section) and I saw something called Salted Roe. Forgot to go back to grab some as I got distracted by my sister.

Does anyone know if this could be the same as Bottarga or Tarako or if Korean people make their own version of Bottaraga/Tarako?

[fmed]

If it is still in the egg sacs then it could be tarako or meintako (or the Korean version of meintako - myeongran jeot). Otherwise, it could be tobiko, ikura, or any of the common "caviars").

[moyenchow]

hey fmed,

I went back to H-mart and picked up the item I saw and I don't think it's the Korean version of Bottaraga/Tarako.

The roe was still in the egg sac but it was wet & mushy, not dry. Oh well, it still did the trick in the Kimchi udon I made. Here's a picture of it. Maybe someone who reads Korean can tell me exactly what I brought.

[fmed]

That is Myeongran Jeot - 명란젓. The Korean characters are identical on the package.

According to Wikipedia, "Mentaiko in Japanese cuisine was derived from Myeongran jeot."

Meintako and Myeongran Jeot are sort of like spicy tarako. (You can get instant ramen in that flavour, etc.)

[moyenchow]

Thanks fmed,

After reading the wikipedia entry, it makes sense as I found my container in the Banchan section.

I didn't realize it was suppose to be spicy. My dish had some heat to it but I thought it was the ridiculous amount of Kimchee I added. Maybe it was both.

I'm very happy with this find.

If H-mart is going to sell the Myeongran Jeot on consistant basis then I can make the kimchee udon dish at home more often.

[extra_virgin]

La Quercia (4th & Alma) has added Pasta con Bottarga to their fresh sheet recently...

-----
La Quercia
3689 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6R1P2, CA

[QAW]

Lets add another query to this - can tarako be substituted for bottarga, if the latter can not be found?

[Sam Salmon]

Who sells Tarako?

I've made my own (sort of) Bottarga with Salmon Roe.

[grayelf]

We brought bottarga back from Sicily in 2007 for foodie friends who couldn't find it in the Lower Mainland, so it may still be hard to source/not available. Have you looked on line?

[mshumi]

I have not looked on line.
In fact, I have not even asked at Bosa yet for fear of coming off as some kind of weirdo or something.
Was it Tuna or Mullet bottarga you brought back?

[fmed]

I know certain restaurateurs source bottarga themselves. It will never hurt to ask Bosa. If enough people ask, they might make it available in retail (eg the way we can get Serrano ham now.)

[grayelf]

It was tuna, and it was pretty funny, as we actually bought it in a tiny town way up in the mountains (as far from the ocean as you can get in Sicily) and then worried all the way home that it would leak in the suitcase :-).

[fmed]

I have seen it at Fujiya and at Angel....but not in a while.

[mshumi]

Angel??
I don't know them. Are they purveyors?

[fmed]

Angel Seafoods on Grant near Clark. They sell all sorts of Japanese seafoods (mainly frozen). They may have tarako.

[mshumi]

Oh that place! I thought they were just wholesale. Will they sell to customers off the street?

[fmed]

Yes they will. I have purchased from them many times. It is a bit odd inside.

[mshumi]

That's ok, I like odd.

[fmed]

Some old celphone pics:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/gustibus.m...

If they do have tarako...please report back.

[mshumi]

Will do.

[fmed]

I was at Angel Seafoods to pick up some assorted stuff and I inquired about tarako. They have indeed stocked it in the past. They have none right now, but you can special order it. It costs $112 per 2kg package.

They prefer to have special orders like this come in from a restaurant account (though I'm sure they'll be more than happy to take a deposit).

BTW - I asked an expert on this stuff and he said that (discounting the difference between species of fish) bottarga is much more dessicated than tarako (ie tarako tends to be moister). A couple of Japanese yokushu-ya serve tarako spaghetti here, BTW - eg, Barefoot Kitchen.

-----
Angel Seafoods
1345 Grant St, Vancouver, BC V5L, CA

[mshumi]

Fuji-ya had some tarako when I went in there the other day - or what they said was tarako. And, yes, it seemed not only less dessicated, but down right fresh - as in not cured or pressed at all. It was bright red in color and moist and mushy, the consistency of fresh uni, if anything. I'm sure it would have been delightful, but I wasn't sure what to do with it and I guess I wasn't feeling that adventurous, so I didn't buy any. I asked them about a drier, pressed version and they did give me the name of a product but they didn't have any at the moment and I forget what they called it.

[fmed]

Bottarga is hard and dry and can be shaved like parmesan. Tarako can be crumbled. Perhaps Fujiya was (incorrectly) listing the fresh pollock roe as "tarako" -- which literally just means "cod roe": tara (cod or pollock) - ko (eggs).

[grayelf]

Had some mullet bottarga sprinkled on olive oil gelato Tuesday night at a resto in SF -- we really need to lobby the local Italian joints to offer this for dessert -- oh my!

[howlin]

hey sam,any chance of sharing that recipe.sounds good

[Sam Salmon]

It's found in Jack Whelan's definitive work 'Smoking Salmon & Trout' don't have my copy to hand here.

[howlin]

ill have to look for that book ,thanks

[mshumi]

What is tarako?

[fmed]

It is Japanese "bottarga"...similar in preparation though usually made from pollock roe (vs tuna or mullet roe for bottarga). The differences may be subtle (ie the difference between prosciutto and Serrano ham) - I have not had them both side by side.

[fmed]

Good question. I haven't been able to find any. It might be time to phone importers (Bosa, Tosi, etc.) to see if they can source it.

[celery1999]

We can eat and buy "Bottarga" at "Cibo trattoria"
http://www.cibotrattoria.com/index.html
They don't show up on a menu online but you could call and ask.