Making bottarga at home

[Josh71]

I am currently in the process of making bottarga, salted fish roe.

 

Recipe reference: http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/salted-fish-roe-bottarga

 

So far, here what I have done:

 

- sub-merge the fish roe in salted water (10% salt) for 24 hours

- put the fish roe on top of kitchen paper with layer of salt and then cover it with another layer of salt

      * Change the kitchen paper and salt every 24 hours

      * Do this for 3 days

 

After this, the recipe reference said to hang the fish roe in a cold dry place for a week or more.

Well, I don't have cold dry place. So, I thought I could simply put it in the refrigerator, like this:

 

- after 3 days, I rinse the fish roe under cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper

- put back the fish roe in the refrigerator, uncovered

 

My question, regarding this last step. Do I need to wrap it using kind of cheese cloth? 

 

I used to make "duck ham" and I wrapped the salted duck breast with cheese cloth for a week, which makes it hard.

 

PS: After those 3 days layer salting, and rinsed, it smells and taste very nice. It is quite hard, but not rock hard which I think it's the bottarga texture supposed to be.

 

Thanks.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Josh71 (log)

[Franci]

32 minutes ago, Josh71 said:

It is quite hard, but not rock hard which I think it's the bottarga texture supposed to be.

 

Thanks.

 

Sorry, I'm not help in making the bottarga. But I like eating it...and I had quite a few Sardinian friends. The bottarga is not supposed to be rock hard. When I buy it, I pick it depending on the use I have for it. The lighter the color means that is fresher and softer and that one I use cut with a mandolin for salads (like artichokes and bottarga), the darker the color the firmer it gets, it's more suitable for grating. Sometimes if I buy a bottarga that is too fresh, so I leave it for weeks before using it for grating. 

Good luck with your experiments.

[Josh71]

Franci, you are correct. Probably rock hard is not the right word, but hard enough to be grated

 

I have never bought bottarga in the original form, only in a bottle which has been grated.

 

Well, as I have 3 pieces, I will put one inside a cheese cloth and see in a week to compare!