Sardinian Cuisine

Other sardinian cuisine milestone, which, even if it’s not suitable for all palate, it has had an amazing success during the time. The pasta with bottarga (eggs of fish) is surely one sardinian cuisine dishes with less ingredients and more flavour yet. This speciality, as most of things which one find in Sardinia, seems have Phoenician origin, but its name come from the arabic word بطارخ (baṭāriḫ)  which precisely means salted eggs of fish. In the past the bottarga wasn’t used as we do today, sure enough, expecially in Sardinia and Sicily, it borns as appetizer and was eaten as still today we eat sausage. With time and billions of gastronomy combinations which born by the mind of expert cooks and not they’ve started off to the pasta with bottarga too. There, as well as being already in itself, according to the tradition, a pure and simple appetizer cut into slices and followed from carasau bread, oil and celery cut into slivers, it has born the coupling with pasta, which has a very basic preparation. However, there are some important distictions expecially speaking of sapidity, there is kind and kind of bottarga, exactly! Certainly It didn’t exist of a fish only! Mediterranean bottarga is principally gotten from two known to all and sundry fishes: Mugil Cephalus (the common grey mullet) and Thunnus (namely the tuna). The bottarga of the first one has an amber color, generally weighs between 300-400g amd, as I said before regarding to the sapidity, it’s decidedly less salted than the tuna’s one; this last, instead, in addition to diverge in the weight, because every baffa baffa (half parte of the fish once cleaned up from head, tail and fishbone) weighs about 1kg, it diverges also in the color, which varies between a light and dark rose and it is by far savory than the mullet’s one. Usually there is on market both the bottarga in baffe and the grated one in pots. Traditionally, the pasta which is used for this recipe is the fregola (in sardinian language frégula) which is like to pebbles. But that one which is used par excellence is spaghetti, and in my opinion no other kind of pasta can match it, neither short nor long! Let’s go to the recipe! Ingredients: • Q.s. Water • Q.s. EVOO • 3 Garlic bulb • Q.s. Grated Mullets Bottarga The method for the preparation of this recipe is really, really simple: for first, as usual, one put a pan with water to boil. Meanwhile, if one has the bottarga in baffa must grated it as much as needed according to how much one wants it in one’s own dish. Personally, since the dish one can say that it is simple, I suggest to grating the whole baffa. Otherwise,on market you can find also grated bottarga pots of which I said before, here too once you verified that it’s the flavor which it’s for you, and by this time there won’t be the necessity I say it to you, gorge yourself! But, before to gorge yourself, take a big skillet, fill the skillet bottom of EVOO and start a gentle heat. As soon as it is hot put 3 coffeespoonful of grated bottarga and mix it frequently in the oil so as not parch it nor stick to the bottom of the skillet. Let cooking for few minutes. Afterwards remove the skillet from the heat and if water is boiling put spaghetti and wait for the cooking. Once ready transfer them with the spaghetti ladle in the skillet that you’ll start again a very gentle heat, enough to warm over the oil and the bottarga which in the meantime will have made a little compound extra-savory. Completed the method serve it in the plats and gorge yourself as ever! N.B. Since we’re talking about of a fish recipe it’s more than ever counselled an excellent white wine, possibly a Vermentino of Sinis area, which matches the dish divinely; otherwise, you might match the dish with a rosé wine. At your own choice and discretion! Did it ever occur to you to enjoy pizza with bottarga and artichokes?