Taramasalata with bread

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Taramasalata is a traditional Greek appetizer of cod roe with lemon juice and vegetable oil. In Greece it is served with Kalamata olives and sliced pita.

There are many variations of taramasalata recipes; every corner of Greece cooks it in its own way. Somewhere they add more lemon juice, somewhere they add onions or garlic, somewhere they use olive oil, somewhere vegetable oil, and so on. These are all variations with which you can endlessly experiment and find your perfect recipe.

But all taramasalata recipes can be roughly divided by one feature. The ingredient used as a thickener and influences the texture and taste of the final dish. I propose to divide the recipes into three groups:

• without thickener;
• taramasalata with bread;
• taramasalata with boiled potatoes;

I will describe their features and differences in more detail in a separate post. And this time we will understand how to cook taramasalata with bread.

Ingredients

• 200 g (7,1 oz) of cod roe (traditionally smoked, but you can replace it with regular caviar)
• 300 g (10,6 oz) bread (stale, yesterday’s bread is fine)
• 1/2 onion
• 100-150 ml (6,8-10,2 tbsp) olive oil (use regular olive oil, not extra-virgin, you can substitute any other vegetable oil without taste/flavor, sunflower oil will do)
• 50 ml (3,4 tbsp) lemon juice (~juice of one large lemon)
• pita (optional, for serving)
• black kalamata olives (optional, for serving)

Required equipment

You will need a blender or food processor for cooking. It is most convenient to use a food processor or a stationary blender.

I used a Bamix M160 immersion blender (similar on amazon)

Step by step recipe

Peel and chop half an onion. It will be enough just to divide it in half, but to achieve a more uniform consistency I cut it more finely.

Cut the crust off the bread and cut it into slices.

Soak the bread in water for 1-2 minutes.

In the bowl of a blender (food processor) or a bowl, mix together 200 g (7,1 oz) of cod roe and chopped onion.

Squeeze the bread well and put it in a bowl. Pour in 50 ml (3,4 tbsp) of lemon juice.

Puree with a blender until smooth.

Continuing to whisk in a thin stream, pour 100-150 ml. (6,8-10,2 tbsp) of oil.

Be guided by the consistency. If it seems that the mass has become too liquid, do not add more oil.

I took ~110 ml. (7,5 tbsp)

If you overdo it, you can add more bread and bring it to the right consistency.

Which one? There is no definite answer here, be guided by your preferences. Try once to make the taramasalata more tender and smooth, reminiscent of hummus in texture. That’s what I did.

Other times, add more bread and the texture will be thicker and more airy. Experiment.

Keep in mind that in the refrigerator the oil will thicken and the mass will become slightly less liquid. This is especially true when using olive oil.

Transfer the taramasalata to a bowl, garnish with black Kalamata olives, and serve with triangle-sliced pita bread (such as the ones made with this recipe).

I like to pan-dry the pita first, cut it up, and serve it before it cools.