Gift Guide, Day 10
Salmon Roe
Okay, I’m obsessed. I admit it. But every time I spread a little bit of sour cream onto a cracker and top it with salmon roe, I experience a tiny frisson of pleasure. Salmon roe is so jewel-like and beautiful, each tiny globe glistening orange. The eggs pop pleasantly in your mouth, delivering a surprising rush of flavor. And if you’re a caviar freak – I admit to that – this is the least expensive way to feed your obsession.
But lately I have found myself thinking that if it were not so inexpensive, it would be more prized. Consider the case of blue fin tuna, which was so despised it served as cat food for many years and then turned into the world’s most expensive fish. Some day epicures will discover the joy of salmon roe – and prices will soar.
Until then it makes a wonderful present, packaged with homemade blini (should I offer a recipe here?), and a carton of sour cream or crème fraiche.
It’s a gift that would certainly make me very happy.
There are many sources. Russ and Daughters and Zabars are two that I like.