Shad roe is a gourmet treat, which my wife and I look forward to every May.
Asparagus Salad with Smoked
Shad Roe and Sorrel (Serves 8)
We picked wild blackberries, cooked turtle soup and
shad roe, and listened to Bessie Smith.
The first stop is Hominy Grill, a breakfast "joint" located near the Medical University of South Carolina, where a favorite is
shad roe sauteed with bacon and scallions, served over grits.
Finnerty keeps enough shad to use for crab and sturgeon bait and lets the rest go, preferring not to eat fried
shad roe or smoked shad, as some anglers do.
At local retail seafood stores menhaden roe is known as "
shad roe," and prices average about $5 per pound.
Nature has a way of bringing certain flavors together briefly for the better of both - new potatoes with
shad roe, or rhubarb with strawberries, for example.
Sauteed at Le Dome, one of Paris' finest seafood restaurants, it was magnificent - sweet, mild, buttery and reminiscent of
shad roe without the texture.
The appearance of
shad roe is a sure sign of spring.
Donald DesRosiers and I hope to catch a few big females for our traditional spring dinner of
shad roe. There's little more than a month to take advantage of the heaviest runs.
The Marino sisters of Dill Seafood in Bridgeton, NJ are best known for their supply of
shad roe and boned shad, which they prepare with samurai precision.
We look forward to May and June for
shad roe, striped bass, black sea bass and flounder.