Today marks the beginning of the long fasting period of Lent for the Orthodox Christian church all over the world. The first day of this period leading to Easter is celebrated throughout Greece with a huge spread of delicious food that excludes all meat and all dairy products.
Those of you who have been following this blog for some time might remember the post that I wrote about this special celebration last year at this time. For all my new readers, here is the link to that post about “Clean Monday” and the recipe for Lagána, the delicious flatbread served on that day.
Lagána, the delicious sesame seed Greek flat bread, is always served with this Classic Greek Taramosalata spread, a versatile and dairy-free spread! It is made with tarama (which looks something like tahini) and is considered the “Greek caviar”.
What is taramá?
Tarama is the tiny roe (fish eggs) of cod, trout or carp, which is cured, salted and aged for over a year. It is relatively inexpensive and a great source of Omega 3’s and protein. It has a great flavor profile, especially when whipped together into an emulsion of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and a starchy base of bread or cooked potatoes.
Tarama, the main ingredient for this spread, can be found easily in all Mediterranean and Middle Eastern markets, in the refrigerated section. Try to avoid the pink colored tarama, get the natural tarama which is a light beige color. Prepared “taramosalata” can also be found in good supermarkets, alongside other spreads like hummus and tapenade. However, making your own taramasalata is by far superior to anything you can buy at the store!
Taramosalata Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 4, 1”- thick slices, hearty, day old white bread, crust removed
- ¼ cup tarama (fish roe)
- ½ small onion, chopped (about ¼ cup)
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 3 TBSP. lemon juice
- Remove the crusts from the bread and place in a small bowl filled with 1 cup of water. Soak the bread in the water for a few minutes and them squeeze dry.
- Put the bread, tarama and onion in a food processor or blender and thoroughly combine. With the motor running on medium speed, drizzle the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, to create an emulsion. Add the lemon juice and blend again. Taste and add more lemon if desired. Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to develop. It can be made up to four days in advance.
- Serve with the traditional lagana flat bread or toasted pita bread triangles.
In certain parts of Greece, they replace the bread, with two boiled potatoes (about 8oz. total in weight), and about ½ cup of the hot liquid they were cooked in. This version makes an even creamier and lighter spread!
Ipirotian trick. You can change the texture, colour and flavour via the amount and type of bread that you use. My late yia yia – Sophia Lollis of Ipiros – always had a brown Tarama and it left the pink ones in its wake.
You are right! If you use whole wheat bread, the taramosalata will become darker than if you used white, crustless bread!