Taramasalata: How to Make Greek Fish Roe Dip at Home

Taramasalata (also spelled taramosalata) is a creamy Greek dip made from tarama, salted and cured fish roe, beaten with soaked bread or potato, lemon juice and olive oil. It is salty, tangy and rich, and is traditionally eaten on Clean Monday at the start of Orthodox Lent, when Visit Greece notes that fish roe salads are a staple of the table. Today it is served all year as a meze and is especially popular in the UK.

Taramasalata recipe (Greek fish roe dip)

Serves: about 2 cups, 8 servings as a meze. Prep: 20 minutes. Cook: none. Total: about 50 minutes, including chilling.

Ingredients

• 3½ oz (100 g) tarama (salted cured fish roe, white or pink)
• 4 thick slices day-old white bread, crusts removed (about 4 oz / 120 g), or 1 medium boiled potato
• ½ small onion, grated (optional)
• Juice of 1½–2 lemons, to taste
• ¾–1 cup (180–240 ml) mild olive oil, or half extra virgin olive oil and half sunflower oil
• Cold water, as needed

Method

1. Soak the bread in water for a minute, then squeeze it as dry as you can. If using potato, mash it while warm and let it cool.
2. Put the tarama, grated onion (if using) and half the lemon juice in a food processor and blend to a paste.
3. Add the squeezed bread or potato and blend again until smooth.
4. With the motor running, pour in the oil in a slow, thin stream, as for mayonnaise. If it gets too thick, add a spoonful of cold water.
5. Taste and add more lemon juice. Tarama is very salty, so do not add salt.
6. Chill for at least 30 minutes; it firms up as it cools. Serve with bread, pita or raw vegetables and a few olives.

What is tarama?

Tarama is fish roe that has been salted and cured. Greek tarama is commonly made from carp or cod roe, and it is sold in jars or tubs at Greek and Mediterranean grocers and online. There are two kinds:

• White (or beige) tarama: the natural colour of the roe. It gives a pale, creamy dip and is the one many Greek cooks prefer.
• Pink tarama: coloured with a food colouring. It gives the bright pink dip familiar from supermarket tubs, but tastes much the same.

Tarama is not the same as avgotaracho, the pressed, dried grey mullet roe of Messolonghi, which has its own EU protected designation of origin and is sliced and eaten on its own.

Bread or potato?

Both are traditional. Bread gives a lighter, fluffier dip; potato gives a denser, silkier dip that keeps its shape. Some cooks use half and half. Use good, plain white bread that is a day or two old.

Why homemade looks different

Homemade taramasalata made with white tarama is a soft beige, not bright pink. It also tastes more of the sea and lemon and less of oil than many commercial versions. Adding the oil slowly is what makes it creamy: too fast and the dip can split. If it does, blend in a spoonful of cold water or a little more soaked bread.

Choosing the oil

A strong extra virgin olive oil can taste bitter when it is blended at high speed in a large quantity, so many cooks use a mild olive oil, or mix extra virgin Greek olive oil with a neutral oil such as sunflower. Then finish the bowl with a drizzle of good extra virgin oil.

Serving taramasalata

Serve it chilled with warm bread or pita, cucumber and a few Kalamata olives, or as part of a dip platter with tzatziki, melitzanosalata and tirokafteri. On Clean Monday it shares the table with bread and other Lenten dishes such as fasolada and horta.

Storage and allergens

Keep taramasalata covered in the fridge and eat it within 3–4 days, following the USDA guidance for leftovers. It contains fish, and usually wheat from the bread; both are among the nine major food allergens listed by the US FDA. Opened tarama should be stored as the label directs.

More meze recipes are in our Greek pantry recipes and the simple Greek mezze guide.

Sources

• Visit Greece: Culinary traditions of Lent (Clean Monday, fish roe salads)
• EUR-Lex: Commission Regulation (EC) No 1263/96 (registers Greek table olive and Avgotaracho Mesolongiou PDOs)
• USDA FSIS: Leftovers and food safety
• US FDA: Food allergies, what you need to know (the 9 major food allergens)

Taramasalata: frequently asked questions