'Taramokeftedes' or 'Fish roe balls' is a very tasty, finger licking, yet easy to create, side dish of the Greek cuisine. It's main ingredients are tarama, parsley, dill and fennel.
As you know (or not) Greeks are real heroes in throwing the entire table full of small, all equally tasty, appetizers or side dishes while enjoying a social gathering with a few glasses of tsipouro or ouzo. This habit seems to be something very typical for most of the Mediterranean countries. In Spain for example they have their own version: Tapas.
'Taramokeftedes' is mainly served with some fresh vegetables like radish, carrots, cucumber and capers but it also suits very well with Tahini sauce and Tzatziki. I created it today with capers, cucumber and radish. Finger licking it was!
No matter how you serve this dish there is only one thing that should never lack from the table: TSIPOURO!
Ingredients:
- 150 gr. tarama (fish roe) .
- 500 gr. white bread, without the crust. (You could also use rusks as this will give you a more 'light' version of this dish).
- 1/2 liter olive oil. (to fry).
- 1 onion.
- 1/2 bunch of parsley.
- 1/2 bunch of dill.
- 1/2 bunch of fennel.
- 1 teaspoon of (black) pepper.
- olive oil.
Preparation:
- (1) Mix, by hand, in a (large) bowl, the 150 gr. of tarama and the 500 gr. of bread/rusks.
- (2) Cut the onion, parsley, dill and fennel into small pieces.
- (3) Add the onion, parsley, dill and fennel to the mixture.
- (4) Bring on taste with 1 teaspoon of (black) pepper.
- (5) Mix all this, by hand, very well.
- (6) Make small balls or discs from the mixture. (you could use a falafel-spoon to create nice, equal discs).
- (7) Heat up, in a frying pan, the olive to about 180° Celsius. (you can use also the deep fryer).
- (8) Fry the balls/discs until auburn (golden-brown) for about 3-4 minutes.Finally:
- For decoration and taste, serve it with radish, cucumber and capers.
Enjoy!