Editorial Reviews:
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Vincenzo Macrì, from the fish preserving company Tre Torri, is among the few people able to procure a part of the supply of the local tuna, fished in the nearby island of Favignana, from the demands of the Japanese and American markets. This way he manages to offer a bottarga (dried and salted roe) made from local tuna eggs, when the majority of the ones on the market are obtained from Atlantic tuna.
The term bottarga, from the Arab bot-ah-rik, means "raw fish eggs" or "uovo di tonno" (tuna egg) as it is known in Italian.
The whole egg sacs are properly washed and salted, and then put to dry in the sun. Nothing is simpler than this food so it depends upon top-quality fish eggs. The final product's taste and quality depends upon the balance in the salting process and the drying, which must be done very gently to avoid oversalting and dessication. Easy to say, very hard to do. A pinch of salt less than necessary, and the precious sac rots; a day longer in the sun, and it dries up.
Dried tuna roe has a flavor that is stronger than grey mullet roe, but it's just as adaptable. It can be eaten very simply with bread, after being sliced in thin shreds and left to soften in olive oil for at least half an hour, or in the classic Sardinian pasta dish Spaghetti Con La Bottarga (always add the bottarga at the end on the dish, not in the pan), or in fancier combinations. It is always delicious on omelets, rice, and mashed potatoes.
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