Taramasalata

My favourite hotel in Stockholm is also one of my absolute favourite hotels in the world: Grand Hotel. I booked us there for a weekend to celebrate The Gentleman's 50th birthday. It is such a big day and he is such a fine man that it deserves to be celebrated! And Grand is the hotel of choice for all the other superstars when they're in town too...

The hotel is full of that old school glamour. They also have a spectacular spa department, brilliant bar, delightful afternoon tea... and as if all this wasn't enough - they also house 2 Michelin- starred restaurants. I was won over at the breakfast at the latest where they serve Kalle's Kaviar (Swedish paste made of cod roe) in adorable miniature tubes!

I love roe. Which is something The Gentleman's discerning British palate will probably never be able to fully comprehend. This is a slightly more grown-up version  of it: taramasalata.

This originally a Greek delicacy, is, as the name states, a roe salad. Traditionally the roe used for this comes from mullet, carp or even cod, but just about any roe works. Today I tried it with the vegan version made of seaweed and even that was good! Serve with crusty bread, crackers... or crisp bread.

This recipe makes about 2,5 dl of taramasalata.

1 white loaf (350 g)

1 dl milk

1/2 small onion, grated

1 garlic clove, grated

100 g roe

1 large yolk
1,5 tbsp lemon juice
0,5 tsp lemon zest, grated

1 dl olive oil
white pepper

Cut the bread in half and scoop out the bread from the crust. Let soak in milk for about 10 minutes. Then squeeze the excess milk out - the mixture should be paste-like.

Mix it with roe, yolk, onion, garlic and lemon juice in a blender until it's smooth. A handheld device is probably the easiest and produces the smoothest result. 

Add oil in a thin stream with the machine running. Add the lemon zest and season with white pepper. If taramasalata is too salty (depends on the roe you use) add some more bread  (and if needed, some milk and/or oil).