Bottarga - Caviar

Closely related names are used for the delicacy in various languages: batarekh , butarkhah , batrakh (Arabic) or botarga (Occitan, Spanish, and Catalan). The name bottarga is used in English and Italian. In other languages it is called boutargue (French), butarga (Portuguese), and butàriga (Sardinian), abudaraho (Turkish), avgotaraho (Greek αυγοτάραχο) 
Added note received after publication from a Greek friend: 
"Αυγο" means: Egg !!  and Αυγοτάραχο means: Egg of the Fish !!.

Bottarga بطارخ

Bottarga Eaten as a Hors d'oeuvre, it is made from Fish roe.

Bottarga is the Italian name for a delicacy of salted, cured fish roe, typically of the grey mullet frequently found near coastlines throughout the world, that often is featured in Mediterranean cuisine and consumed in many other regions of the world. The food bears many different names and is prepared in several different ways.

The product is similar to the softer cured mullet roe, karasumi from Japan and East Asia. Sometimes the delicacy is prepared from tuna.

Etymology

The English name, bottarga, was borrowed from Italian. The Italian form is thought to have been introduced from the Arabic buṭarḫah بطارخة (plural buṭariḫ بطارخ), but ultimately derives from Byzantine Greek ᾠοτάριχον (oiotárikhon)

The Italian form can be dated to ca. 1500, since the Greek form transliterated into Latin as ova tarycha occurs in Bartolomeo Platina's De Honesta Voluptate (ca. 1474), the earliest printed cookbook, and an Italian manuscript dating shortly afterward that "closely parallels" this cookbook attests to botarghe in the corresponding passage.

The first mention of the Greek form (oiotárikhon) occurs in the writings of Simeon Seth in the eleventh century, who denounced the food as something to be "avoided totally", although a similar phrase may have been in use since antiquity in the same denotation. Although depicted in ancient Egypt, it has no known name.

Preparation

Bottarga is made chiefly from the roe pouch of grey mullet. Sometimes it is prepared from Atlantic bluefin tuna (bottarga di tonno) or swordfish. It is massaged by hand to eliminate air pockets, then dried and cured in sea salt for a few weeks. The result is a hard, dry slab that sometimes is coated in beeswax for preservation purposes.

Not all Bottarga is coated in beeswax as some producers simply keep the natural casing of the roe intact, which contains the eggs securely once dried and salted. The curing time may vary depending on producer and the desired texture as well as the preference of the consumers, which varies by country.

Sometimes called the caviar of the south, bottarga usually is sliced thinly or grated when it is served. The delicacy currently is served in many regions, including the following.

Croatia

In Croatia, the delicacy is known as butarga or butarda. It usually is fried before serving.

 

France

In the French region, Provence, it is named Poutargue and produced in the city of Martigues It also may be called boutargue in France.

Greece

In Greece, avgotaraho is produced primarily from the flathead mullet caught in Greek lagoons. The whole mature ovaries are removed from the fish, washed with water, salted with natural sea salt, dried under the sun, and sealed in melted beeswax.

Italy

In Italy, it is best known in Sicilian and Sardinian cuisine as bottarga; its culinary properties may be compared to those of dry anchovies, although it is much more expensive. Often, it is served with olive oil or lemon juice as an appetizer accompanied by bread or crostini. It also is used in pasta dishes.

Bottarga is categorized as a Traditional food product (prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale). It varies by region, in particular, is produced in Sardinia from flathead mullet and in Sicily from Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Lebanon

In Lebanon it is served sliced, where each slice is covered with a piece of raw garlic and the whole is immersed in olive oil, then eaten with flat bread.

Turkey

In Turkey, bottarga is made from grey mullet roe. It is listed in the Ark of Taste. It is produced in Dalyan, on the southwestern coast of Turkey, from the mature fish migrating from Lake Köyceğiz.

Egypt

In Egypt it is produces from mullet roe, mostly from the Borolos lakes, the pouch is salted, dried and consumed in sin slices with lemon over buttered flat bread.

It is interesting to note that Bottarga is seen on Ancient Egyptian murals from the old pharaohs world.