Taramasalata

An emulsion built like a mayonnaise, where the oil goes in drop by drop and the colour is ivory rather than pink.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 150 g cured cod roe, tarama
• 150 g stale white bread, crusts off
• 1 small onion, grated to a pulp
• 250 ml mild olive oil
• 2 lemons, juiced
• cold water, to loosen
• black pepper

Method

1. THE OIL GOES IN DROP BY DROP AT FIRST, exactly as for a mayonnaise, and for exactly the same reason. The roe is the emulsifier and it can only take up so much oil at a time; poured in, the mixture splits into an oily slick with grains in it, and once split it is very hard to bring back. The first fifty millilitres take as long as the next two hundred.
2. IT IS IVORY, NOT PINK. Cured cod roe is a pale beige and makes a pale beige dip. Anything bright pink has been coloured, and knowing that in advance stops the honest version looking like a failure halfway through.
3. Bread torn up, covered in cold water 2 minutes, then squeezed hard in the hands until barely damp. Wet bread makes a loose dip that no amount of oil tightens.
4. Roe into a food processor with the grated onion and half the lemon juice. Blended 1 minute to a smooth paste.
5. Bread added and blended again until completely smooth. Any lumps left now will still be there at the end.
6. NOW THE OIL, with the motor running: a thin trickle, counting to ten between the first few additions. Watch the mixture -- it should stay glossy and thick. The moment it looks oily on the surface, stop and let it come back together before adding more.
7. Once about a third is in, the rest can go in a steady thin stream.
8. The remaining lemon juice in, then cold water a tablespoon at a time until it is the thickness of whipped double cream. It firms considerably in the fridge, so leave it slightly looser than you want it.
9. Pepper, and taste. NO SALT -- the roe is cured and carries all of it.
10. IF IT SPLITS: start again with a tablespoon of fresh squeezed bread in a clean bowl and beat the split mixture into it a spoonful at a time. It comes back about four times out of five.
11. Chilled at least 2 hours. Keeps four days.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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