Taramasalata

Taramasalata or taramosalata is a Greek and Turkish meze. The spelling taramosalata reflects the Greek, but in English the a spelling is common.

Taramasalata is traditionally made from taramas, the salted and cured roe of the cod or the carp, though blends based on other forms of fish roe have become more common. The roe is mixed with either bread crumbs or mashed potato, and lemon juice, vinegar and olive oil. It is usually eaten as a dip, with bread and/or raw vegetables. The color can vary from creamy beige to pink, depending on the type of roe used. Mass-produced taramasalata is often a bright pink due to the addition of food coloring.

In Greece, taramasalata is associated with Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent.

A similar dip or spread, salata de icre ('roe salad' in Romanian) is also common in Romania and Bulgaria. It is made with pike, carp or herring roe but generally with sunflower or vegetable oil instead of olive oil and without any thickener like bread crumbs or mashed potato. It is mass-produced and is widely available in grocery shops and supermarkets, as well as being made at home, in which case chopped onions are commonly added.

A version of this dip is prepared with mashed beans, sunflower oil, garlic and chopped onions, called fasole batuta or fasole facaluita (mashed beans) or icre de fasole.

Read More at Wikipedia.

Recipe for Taramasalata see Here and Here.