I was perusing the seafood section at Uwajimaya the other day when I spied the sample table. I edged closer and saw that it was caviar. Caviar! Now that’s the kind of sample table I can hang around! Barnaby handed me a cracker piled high with jet black goodness and I tasted. Delicious! But wait, it’s not quite caviar. What is it? It definitely had the taste of the sea, but not as briny as I was expecting with caviar.

That’s because it wasn’t caviar.

At least not in the traditional sense. It was seaweed caviar! It’s called Cavi-Art, and it’s the brilliant result of molecular gastronomy, which basically means the scientific transformation of an ingredient. In this case, and this is purely my guess as I’m not trained in molecular gastronomy, liquid seaweed that has been transformed into tiny pods – a.k.a. caviar.

Cool!!

Whether you’re vegan, want to try something new, or just don’t want to drop the coin on caviar, this is the perfect alternative. It also has a long shelf-life, doesn’t need to be refrigerated and can be used in hot and cold dishes. Best of all, it’s healthy (low-fat, low-salt and cholesterol free) and environmentally sustainable, as it doesn’t contribute to the depletion of fish stocks and only a small percent of the seaweed growth is harvested each year. Nice.

We purchased the black lumpfish Cavi-Art, but it also comes in red and yellow lumpfish as well as salmon Cavi-Art. Check out their website for some delicious sounding recipes. So far we’ve just been piling it on crackers with a bit of crème fraîche.

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Have you ever gotten disapproving looks at parties for eagerly scooping up too much of the caviar? That’s never happened to me per se (I’m much too sneaky to get caught), but if you have then you will enjoy this scoop-worthy roe.

Tarama is cod or carp roe that is salted, dried and sometimes smoked. When combined with olive oil, lemon and soaked bread a classic Greek meze, often referred to as the “common man’s caviar,” is created: taramosalata. Creamy, lemony, and with just the right amount of that fishy-saltiness, taramosalata is good and cheap enough to make you unapologetically snarf it down like a hungry Greek fisherman.

And I do.

Taramosalata
Prep time: 10 minutes

• 3 1/2 ounces of cod or carp roe (plain or smoked)
• 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 slices of bread, crust removed
• juice of 2 lemons
• warm water

Run the bread under water, then squeeze dry. Put roe and bread in a food processor and blend (setting 2) until mixed. Add the olive oil and lemon juice slowly and pulse until creamy and thick. If it gets too thick use a bit of warm water to thin it out. Cover and place in the refrigerator until well chilled.

Personal experience note: unless you like the taste of a fish monger’s floor, then do not lick the tarama spoon <gag!>. Patiently wait until the recipe has been completed.

In a hurry? You can also find pre-made taramosalata in Mediterranean markets or on Amazon.com.

Thank you SunSirrah for your nice photo!

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What rings in the New Year better than a splendid champagne and some fine caviar? We started our celebrations with this delicious little appetizer thoughtfully prepared by Barnaby. Little 1.5″rounds of buttermilk bread (a fine substitution for blini) were cut out and toasted. He substituted mascarpone for crème fraîche, carefully piped it on top and finished with a healthy dollop of American Malossol Sevruga caviar. He then pulled out his grandparents’ Bohemian Czech cut-crystal wine glasses and filled them with Piper-Heidsieck Brut Rosé Sauvage champagne. Purrrr…

Cheers to 2008!

For further reading pleasure check out this much more ambitious approach to caviar documented by 100 Blogging Babes. And Secrets to Choosing Champagne.

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‘Tis the day after Christmas and I’ve been eating constantly! We’ve been spreading ourselves around among family and friends with a number of interesting culinary events. On Christmas Eve Eve (aka last Sunday), we had a cocktail party with Potato Pancakes (Latkes), a variety of smoked fish, caviar and some really nice champagne. Being only half-Jewish, potato pancakes are only a cultural & culinary tradition for me. In fact, it’s more tied to Christmas than Hanukkah because I learned to make them from my Jewish grandfather who celebrated Christmas. For a nice post and recipe for Latkes, visit The Blog that Ate Manhattan.

On the actual Eve of Christmas, we prepared a goose, which is pretty rare among American households nowadays, but a food I love. We ordered it in advance from Draeger’s in San Mateo, but they called the morning it was supposed to arrive and informed us that “it wasn’t on the truck,” with a suggestion that we have “Christmas Duck”…Sheri said “what the Dickens!!” and I set about finding a goose elsewhere. We got lucky and Whole Foods had a beautiful one from the Amish country. Had I been even more organized, I would have ordered from Amazon.com in advance.

I meant to take pictures, write down my recipes and be a good blogger, but wound up too engrossed in the actual cooking, drinking and stuffing of face to do any of that. Luckily, Wendy Cooper, of the Cooking Blog, did a great post on Christmas Goose.

Recipes indexed at Foodista.com:

Goose

Latkes

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