Spaghetti with Bottarga

Spaghetti with Bottarga

The caviar of Sardinia can be found inside one of the island’s favorite fish, the mullet. Although mullet is not the most prized of fishes for its flesh, in Sardinia it is a true king. The reason? It’s the eggs. Washed, dried and salted they turn into an authentic delicacy called bottarga, which has an intense flavor with a slightly bitter aftertaste, much like almonds. In today’s gourmet circles, bottarga is a culinary treasure practically worth its weight in gold.

The Phoenicians were the first to discover the technique of salting and maturing the egg sacks of mullet. The Arabs followed, calling it "battarikh" (salted fish eggs) and gradually spreading the product in the Mediterranean. "I do not recall having eaten anything more exquisite", Bartolomeo Platina said in the middle of the XV century. A document of 1386 tells about a Catalan-Aragonese pirate ship that caught a sailing ship while leaving the port of Oristano, full of bottarga. Bottarga has been appreciated by important cooks like Bartolomeo Scappi, considered the Michelangelo of the kitchen. It was he that proposed this delicacy to Pope Pius V. There is no shortage in the archives of Sardinia and elsewhere of high praise for this amber delicacy coming from the sea.

 From Phoenicians to Carthaginians, from Egyptians to the Romans, the Mediterranean people always loved this delicious amber delicacy, and the Sardinians were no less. On the island, bottarga was good for exchange or as a gift, and it was considered particularly noble and valuable.

However there was a time when Sardinia’s tuna fishermen held a virtual monopoly on bottarga. Although today the most important food stores and chic restaurants display their bottarga prominently, in the 1970's it was still a food reserved for a chosen few. To get quality bottarga back then it was necessary to ask the fishermen and then it was only in small quantities.

Today bottarga is Sardinian gold; the market has had a quick expansion with large demand from France, Germany, Japan and Spain. Both North and South American countries also import their fare share of bottarga.

A jar of bottarga

Even though mullet can be found in waters the world over, it is the sea around Sardinia that gives the gourmets the best bottarga, to be tasted slowly bite after bite. Sardinia’s mix of the fishing grounds, climate and the traditional methods of processing that makes the bottarga of Sardinia absolutely the best.

In particular Alghero, Carloforte, Sant' Antioco, San Teodoro, Cabras, Porto Pino, Cagliari and Tortolì are the main production centers. Smaller bottarga processing also takes place in Tuscany, Sicily, Calabria, as well as in Provence, Turkey and Tunisia.

Besides bottarga from mullet, there is also bottarga derived from the dried eggs of tuna. To obtain the bottarga from mullet or tuna, it's extracted from the female fish's ovarian sacks taking much care not to break it. After being washed to remove all impurities it is salted with sea salt, pressed and seasoned. The egg sacks are drained of water on an inclined surface and subjected to a light pressure to make them drain their liquid. They are then air-dried for a few days and matured in a dry ventilated area for at least 60-90 days. The bottarga is sold in either "baffa" (the undamaged ovarian sacks), which is more expensive, or in powder form

Mullet Bottarga vs. Tuna Bottarga

Mullet Bottarga

Mullet bottarga is processed in September and is the most precious and expensive of the two. It is characterized by a color which goes from gold to amber according to the maturing and the part of the placenta that remains attached to the baffa. It is partly due to this particular color, and also for its incredible quality, that it is called the gold of Sardinia.

Mullet bottarga preserves the form of the ovarian bag of the fish and has a strong but at the same time delicate flavor. The bitter aftertaste is slightly reminiscent of an almond. To be of good quality, mullet bottarga must be of a uniform color without spots and firm for cutting, with the skin of the ovarian bag well attached to the mass of dried eggs.

Tuna Bottarga

Tuna bottarga is processed in May, shortly after the tuna hunt is over. The bottarga from tuna is lesser valued and it's darker in color. Tuna bottarga is sold in a brick form as it is pressed during the drying process.

The flavor of tuna bottarga is significantly stronger and well-defined than mullet bottarga. High quality tuna bottarga still must have a firm, compact consistency and a uniform color.

And now let's see one of the many recipes that can be cooked with this delicious food:

Sliced bottarga

Spaghetti with Bottarga

For cooking spaghetti with bottarga (mullet or tuna), you have to boil 400 gr. of spaghetti in plenty of water, not too salty. In the meantime, grate the bottarga, chop some parsley and put a clove of garlic sliced in half to simmer in a frying pan with some oil, then take the pan from the fire. Remove the clove of garlic, and add 2/3 of the bottarga, 2/3 of the chopped parsley, the black pepper and then a couple of ladles of cooking water, and stir well until everything becomes a cream.

When the pasta is done, drain the water and add the pasta to the frying pan with the sauce and cook together for several minutes, until the sauce is nice and dense but not too dry. Then put the spaghetti on the plates and sprinkle with the remaining bottarga and the chopped parsley. Serve immediately.