Photo by: Maureen Evans
Cod’s Roe and Seasonal Crudités by Merlin Labron-Johnson
Ingredients
Roe: 60g smoked cod’s roe, skinned
Bread: 65g white bread, crusts removed and chopped
Garlic: 1 big clove garlic
Milk: 150ml
Dijon mustard: 10g
Water: 50ml water
White wine vinegar: 1 tb. spoon
Lemon: Juice of 1⁄2 a lemon
Vegetable oil: 300g (or other neutral oil)
Baby vegetables: Seasonal young vegetables or leaves, cut into crudités, to serve. We like to use radish and young cavolo leaves, but use whatever you have to hand depending on the time of year.
Find a vessel big enough to accommodate the first set of ingredients. Weigh them out and combine together, leaving them to get acquainted for 20-30 minutes, in which time the bread will soften completely.
Transfer all to a blender, and blend on high speed until completely smooth. Blitz again, and while the machine is going, stream in your vegetable oil, slowly at first, until you have a smooth, homogeneous emulsion.
It is likely that the taramasalata will become too thick for the machine to mix it before you have added all of the oil. If this is indeed the case, remove to a bowl and incorporate the last remaining bit of oil with a hand blender if you have one, though a whisk would also suffice.
Season with salt to taste, and extra lemon juice, if preferred. Set aside and refrigerate, or transfer to a dish and serve right away, with a selection of vibrant crudités, a drizzle of good olive oil and crunchy flakes of sea salt.
