Grey mullet roe
- Provenance
- Producer details will appear here when verified.
- History
- Phoenician sailors salted and pressed roe as portable protein; the Sardinian word bottarga comes to us through Arabic butarikh, 'salted fish eggs'.
Sealed, numbered and signed by the hand that made it.
THE SEA
Bottarga di Muggine
Grey mullet roe, salt-pressed and air-dried five months. Grated, not sliced.
$34
Pre-launch
Release notes on the Cellar List.
Pre-launch: we're not taking orders quite yet. Add pieces to your case and it will be held for you — join the Cellar List for first notice when we open.
Cold Cellar / ships chilled
Ships chilled and must be kept refrigerated. Recipes, packaging and validated shelf-life vary by product — final storage and shelf-life instructions will be confirmed on the product label before release.
- Origin
- Producer details will appear when verified
- Batch
- TBC · PRE-LAUNCH
- Pairing
- Vermentino di Gallura
- Batch size
- Made in small released batches
- Keeping
- Ships chilled and must be kept refrigerated. Final storage and shelf-life instructions will be confirmed on the product label before release.
- On the palate
- Almond, sea air, a deep savoury hum. Salty but not aggressive.
Where this dish comes from
Bottarga is likely one of the oldest preserved luxury foods still made the same way. Its name traces back through Arabic and Coptic to a Greek root meaning salted roe; salted, pressed roe has been documented for thousands of years across the Mediterranean and Near East.
Certain lagoons became known for the practice because their brackish, shallow waters suit grey mullet spawning. The technique has never fully industrialised — pressing and drying roe still depends on a maker's judgement of humidity.
Pressed and air-dried mullet roe is a signature ingredient of several Mediterranean coastal cuisines, grated over pasta or shaved thin as a garnish.
How we make it
Weights are applied gradually — light at first, heavier as curing progresses — since pressing too hard too early can burst the sac, while pressing too gently leaves the centre wet.
Only the cut ends are waxed; a fully waxed lobe stops losing water and can turn rubbery.
Salt press, then air dry
5 months
- 01Whole roe sacs lifted intact — a single nick ruins the lobe.
- 02Layered in sea salt under graduated wooden weights for eight days.
- 03Rinsed, then hung in sea air behind shutters for five months.
- 04Waxed at the ends only, so the lobe continues to breathe.
Grated over hot pasta with oil and lemon, off the heat. Never cooked.
THE INGREDIENT LEDGER
Every defining ingredient, named where we can: what it is, and what it has meant to the people who kept it. Producer and sourcing details will appear here as they are verified.
Sea salt
- Provenance
- Producer details will appear here when verified.
- History
- The same pans have salted the same roe for centuries; nothing else is added.
Recipes, packaging, storage instructions and shelf-life vary by product and validated production method. Follow the instructions on the label; keep chilled items refrigerated.
