British BBQ Society Forums

On the way home from Peterborough today, I popped into Morrisons for some groceries. On the fish counter they had some amazing looking cod roe. They normally come in pairs, but I bought just one, as I am not quite sure what I am doing with it.

I used to love cod roe as a child, but have only prepared it myself a couple of times, and then only from ready-cooked roe, pressed and canned. I spoke to the fishmonger and he advised me to boil it for about 15-30 minutes, after which it should be firm enough to to slice and fry.

However, it has just occurred to me that you can smoke roe, although I haven’t yet decided whether it should be hot smoked or cold smoked. A quick google suggests that people do either, and sometimes both.

I am going to be busy tomorrow (board gaming), but a common thing I see is “brine it for an hour, then dry and leave in the fridge for 12-24 hours”. So I think I will do that now, and then I can look at it again on Sunday.

Another thought – smoked roe, isn’t that what you make taramosalata from?

http://www.walter-lystfisker.dk/eprgrogn.htm

This may help

Cheers. That was one of the options I found, and I will give the hot smoking route a try sometime soon, while cod roe is still available.

However, I have decided to cold smoke this one, as it leaves my options open - once it is smoked, some it can head for the frying pan, to serve on toast, while some can be made into taramosolata.

I wish I'd picked up a whole (double-lobed) roe now!

Anyway, I didn't brine it in the end, but simply packed it in salt and left it overnight. Googling suggests there are a million and one ways to do this, so I went for the easiest.

I love smoked cod roe, and I salt overnight, cook in boiling water for a few minutes and then cold smoke.
Very seasonal at this time of year, but soon to end.
Cheers
Marcus