Bottarga is the salty, fishy, compressed dried roe of the mullet, a Sardinian specialty that is delicious as part of an hors d'oeuvre with shards of Sardo cheese, slices of salami and some olives. It's also good shaved over spaghettini that have been tossed in a little fruit olive oil, some freshly ground black pepper and perhaps some garlic, with a spritz of lemon juice. Dean & DeLuca sells jars of this (expensive) taste worth acquiring.

Among chefs who use it are Peter Pastan at Obelisk and sometimes on a white starter at Two Amys, and Frank Ruta at Palena.

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