Hueva de Mujol - Bortaga

Friend & Burrell has recently released another Spanish delicacy of salt cured, air dried mullet roe known as Bortaga or Karasumi in Japanese circles. The roe is washed and drained, then rolled in fine salt. When the roe is buried in salt it continues to leak water and oil and constantly needs wiping and turning at hourly intervals. Excess salt is then removed and the roe is finally laid out in the sun to dry. Although theoretically a simple process, this exercise requires a great attention to detail. “Traditional methods such as these are providing us with a different level of sophistication in these types of raw ingredients”, says Friend.

As this particular mullet roe comes from a relatively smaller fish, it has a smooth texture and an exquisite flavour, excellent when grated over pasta, fish or salads or simply finely sliced and eaten with Sake in Japanese cuisine.

Friend says “Good mullet roe is like good caviar and good jamon, it leaves one with an experience on the palate that makes us happy, we are constantly on the lookout for natural products with real flavour and consistency, with so much over processed food today these Spanish products make for a pleasant change”.