#fish eggs

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Decorative Sunday

Here are some original etchings of various fish by the Spanish painter and printmaker Antonio Marcoida (1941-1993) from a small accordion book entitled Peces, printed by Carlos Gonc̦alves at Taller de la Galeria Estampa in an edition of 195 copies signed by the artist in 1982. The book includes a recipe for Taramasalata, a popular Greek/Turkish spread, sometimes called Greek caviar, made with cured fish roe (tarama), especially from cod, mixed with olive oil, lemon juice, and a starchy base of milk-soaked bread crumbs.

In his recipe, Marcoida mentions that Vázquez Montalbán, the prolific Catalan writer and noted gastronome, recommends that the recipe should be made "before making love, but in the presence of your partner, because Tarama, like all mortar and pestle dishes, requires the tam-tam of magic and even requires spells, nothing ostentatious." For those who would like to try making this traditional dish before lovemaking, we include the recipe below.