Home Savory Royal Crab Tarama

Royal Crab Tarama

Difficulté : Easy
Catégorie : Savory
Cout : Low cost
Each week until Christmas, I will offer you, in addition to my program, a new tarama recipe. This way, you will only have to click on the one you like in the index, without having to go through the basic recipe. Today I give you the recipe for crab tarama. I think this is my favorite (although the ones coming up are also delicious). A very soft tarama with an unparalleled finesse. This recipe can be made with fresh crab or an excellent tin. The result will be in any case particularly tasty!

Why does the mayonnaise hold? Thanks to the surface-active molecules of the egg yolk which have a hydrophilic end and a lipophilic end (one that likes water and the other oil!). The water soluble end is placed in water (or milk here) and the other in oil. This is what holds it all together. To the naked eye, mayonnaise looks coherent, while under the microscope it is droplets of oil dispersed in the small amount of water (mustard or vinegar for mayo). For the tarama it’s the same: just add a tiny bit of egg yolk (so little that it won’t have any taste) which will act as a catalyst giving cohesion to the preparation. There is the water in the milk (from the bread) and the oil that is added. With this, the tarama is forced to hold and emulsify. With my new order of preparation, we can’t miss anymore. It is necessary to respect the times of stirring (especially the yellow with the soaked bread, then with a little oil). When the cod (or mullet) eggs are added, the emulsion has already started and cannot be stopped! The trick is to use chemistry.

Recipe of the “tarama” for 4 to 6 persons:

-60g of bread crumbs (bread without the crust, but quality bread!)
-1/2 egg yolk (just take a little yolk)
-a 280g bag of smoked cod eggs (or mullets if available)
-150g to 170g of oil
-1/2 glass of milk
-300g of crab meat without cartilage

Start by removing the crust from the bread. I bought bread from Poilâne, which has a dense and delicious crumb. It is very easy with a fresh crumb.
Put the crumb in a bowl and pour enough milk to soak it completely.

Wring out the crumb in your hand. Remove excess milk from bowl. Return the crushed crumb to the bowl. If the bread still has a little milk in it, that’s good because the tarama will hold up even better!
Add half an egg yolk (this will not give any taste, but provides the protein needed to emulsify the oil).


Mix at low speed with an electric whisk for 2 minutes, to break down the proteins in the egg yolk and milk.


Add the equivalent of two or three spoonfuls of oil while still mixing at low speed. This will start the emulsion. The oil immediately begins to enclose itself in small “capsules” of water (which comes from the milk and thanks to the half-yolk).


Here is an egg pocket of smoked cod.


Open it with a knife on one side. All that remains is to remove the eggs with a spoon.


Add the eggs (without the skin of the pocket).

Then start mixing until all the pocket pieces are gone.


Add the remaining oil in a thin stream, slowly rising just like a mayonnaise. 


Do not make the tarama with a blender as I read in some recipes! 
Then with an electric whisk, add the oil in a stream, very gently, just like a mayonnaise! I made my tarama on the fly, trying to get the best result possible. But I weighed everything before and after, so the proportions I listed above are the ideal ones for me.
Regarding the addition of lemon, I prefer to leave it up to each person to add it to the tarama at the time of tasting!
Once all the oil has been added, mix well with a spoon, scraping the edges to incorporate everything.

Add fresh (or canned very good quality) flaked crab, making sure there is no gristle.

Mix well with a fork.

The tarama is ready. Chill under cling film for at least one hour before serving.

Enjoy it fresh on slices of toast!

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La sélection de Noel

The end of year festivities are coming up, Christmas is almost here! I offer you a selection of festive recipes to delight your taste buds and your guests. Tarama, foie gras, logs, I give you all my secrets. There are in this selection, recent recipes and others that I have published for nearly 12 years, so the photos are not all equal! Just click on the recipes to access them!

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La cuisine de Bernard
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