Blue eye pastirma, tarama powder, seaweed

I didn’t expect to find seaweed used in Turkish cooking but when I heard that it grows all around the Turkish coast, it made perfect sense. It made me think of this dish, which encapsulates all of the flavours of the Bosphorus.

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Cemen-cured blue eye

• 450 g piece skinless blue eye, bone and bloodline removed
• 40 g ground fenugreek
• 40 g smoked paprika
• 15 g coriander seed, roasted and coarsely cracked
• 15 g ground cumin
• 80 g salt
• 80 g sugar
• zest of 1 orange

Seaweed puree

• 300 g beach banana (see Note)
• 100 g Lebanese cucumber, finely chopped
• 21 g cold cream gel (see Note)

Tarama powder

• 50 g white cod roe paste
• 300 g Maltosec (see Note)

Pickled carrot

• 100 ml white wine vinegar
• 100 g brown sugar
• 1 large carrot, peeled

To serve

• 12 baby black cabbage leaves, or other very young leaves
• 6 coriander shoots

Marinating time 3-4 hours

Instructions

To make the cured blue eye, combine all dry ingredients with the orange zest. Place the fish in a flat plastic or glass dish and pack the spice mixture all over the fish, making sure it is completely and thickly covered in the mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Rinse the fish briefly under cold running water to remove the excess spices, leaving a thin layer of spice still on the fish (like a traditional bastourma). Pat dry the fish, then cut across the grain in to 5mm-thick slices, cover and refrigerate until needed.

Meanwhile, to make the seaweed puree, blend the beach banana and cucumber in a high powered blender on maximum speed until smooth. Add the cold cream gel, then blend for 10 seconds or until well combined. Pass through a fine sieve, then transfer to a squeeze bottle and refrigerate until required.

To make the tarama powder, combine both ingredients in a bowl until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Refrigerate until needed.

To make the carrot pickle, place the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and refrigerate until cool.  Using a Japanese mandolin, thinly slice the carrot lengthways to make 12 ribbons. Drop the carrot ribbons into lightly salted boiling water for 10 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and drop into iced water to stop the cooking process. Drain and pat dry on paper towel. Just before serving, toss the carrot ribbons in a drizzle of pickling liquid, then roll up into cylinders.

To serve, place a slice of fish in the middle of the plate. Dot the seaweed puree around the plate, add the carrot ribbons and a spoonful of tarama powder. Top with the black cabbage leaves and coriander shoots and serve immediately.

Notes

• Beach bananas aren’t actually seaweed at all but rather a type of succulent native to the Gippsland region of Victoria. They impart a salty, fresh burst of flavour similar to the taste of the ocean. Available from select greengrocers. If unavailable, use samphire instead.

• Also sold Ultra tex, cold cream gel is a powdered tapioca starch is used to emulsify and thicken cold liquids and requires no heating. Available online from The Melbourne Food Ingredient Depot and other specialist food stores.

• Also known as maltodextrin, matosec is is a powder derived from tapioca. It has the ability to absorb fats and convert them into a paste or powder and is also used as a bulking agent and to stabilise high fat ingredients. Available from specialist food stores.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.