Description
Bottarga is the salted and sun-dried roe of the Grey Mullet, though some Bottarga is made from Tuna fish roe. The process of curing the roe is a lengthy one. Before the roe is carefully extracted from the fish it is massaged to eliminate air bubbles inside. It is then washed in the natural sack (or skein), dried and afterwards covered with a thick layer of the purest sea salt. It stays under the salt for a couple of weeks, sometimes under some pressure that forms two flat lobes. The curing time determines how much salt the roe will absorb. When the curing process is over, the roe sacks are dried in the sun; this is where the magic happens – depending on the region, local preferences and general weather conditions, this unique process may take up to one month.