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03/26/2006 Archived Entry: "Flea Markets and Taramosalata"

Whew! It was busy around here for awhile. My friend Cecilia Baratta -- La Baronessa, I call her to tease her, although she actually is one -- was visiting from Italy. I love having her as a house guest. We talk over breakfast in the morning, then I know she can take care of herself until dinner, unless we decide to do something together. I suppose I use her visits as an excuse to play instead of work. But it can be tiring to play so hard. I am not used to it.

For one thing, I feel like went to every flea market, junk shop, and thrift shop in the city. We both love rummaging through old stuff. We both love to “collect,” a euphemism for “acquire.” Fortunately, our various collections don’t overlap, so we don’t compete for the same stuff in the stores and markets. Having said that, there was this large oil painting, a beautiful still life that was obviously a fragment from an even larger painting. I spotted it a few years ago at the 26th St./Sixth Ave. flea market, which sadly is no more. I turned it around and put it behind some furniture so no one would see it and I could come back for it before I left. Only minutes later, I saw Cecilia walking around with the painting. She found it, even placed backwards behind a chest of drawers, and bought it. We may have different collections, but we have similar taste. The painting now hangs over a table in the big dining room at Seliano. If you come, I’ll show you which it is, and the other stuff that Cecilia bought in New York to wow them in Italy.

This trip we went to the Lambertville flea market – Golden Nugget – where she bought a German porcelain plate decorated with three-dimensional flowers – really a wall plaque. I could certainly live without it, but she couldn’t. I bought a set of four Wedgewood Etruria espresso cups and saucers, for a mere $20. I also found, for only $4, a red enameled metal serving plate with two matching bowls. Right now, the red plate is holding black grapes and yellow lemons and bananas. Strangely, the plate is made in Italy, while the bowls are marked Finland. I also found, for $5 a big oval jar with a ground glass stopper. I collect ground glass jars. This is my first oval. As flea market aficionados, Cecilia and I thought that Lambertville on a very off day – which this was – was pretty good. We’ll be returning.

While in Lambertville, we went to visit our friends Jean Procyk and Maria Gary. Jean has an adorable cottage right on the Delaware River, across from Lamberville in New Hope. It was heaven. I haven’t been that relaxed in months. I have traveled with both Jean and Maria, who are old, old friends, on cruises and on the trip to Eastern Europe a couple of years ago. And they have both come to Cecilia’s Tenuta Seliano for a culinary vacation. That’s how they knew Cecilia.

Jean, who is of Greek decent – as is Maria -- made a lovely lunch, including her own homemade spanikopita – that’s the Greek spinach and cheese pie in phyllo – and a chicken and rice dish of her mother’s.

New to Cecilia was the taramosalata that Jean served as part of our appetizer array. If it is new to you, too, taramosalata is a whipped dip/spread based on potted cod roe – tarama. Cecilia had to have the recipe. Maria rattled off her version, which is exactly the same as the way I learned it, made with bread, not potatoes, which is another school of taramosalata. In and around New York City, the tarama itself is readily available, in jars. I even see it in supermarkets. If you live in New York metro, the best, best, best taramosalata you can buy is made by Sotirios Karamouzis of the International Foods at (two storefronts) 529 and 543 Ninth Ave., near 40th St., across from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. If you are there for the taramosalata – and I suggest you buy a full quart while you are at it -- you might also want to buy Sotirios’ octopus salad. That’s pretty spectacular, too.

Taramosalata
Makes about 2 cups

Sotirios once told me that the secret to his nearly fluffy taramosalata is that he whips the mixture, using the whisk on his huge mixing machine. You can do the same, but a blender-made taramosalata, although more mayonnaise-like, is still a wonderful thing. Some brands of tarama, the potted roe itself, are fishier than others. You may have to shop around for good quality.

½ cup tarama
1 small onion, chunked up
Juice of 1 lemon
8 to 9 slices good quality supermarket white bread
½ cup milk
½ cup oil (can be all bland vegetable oil, such corn, canola or peanut, or a lightly flavored
olive oil, or a combination of vegetable oil and fruity olive oil)

In a blender, combine the tarama, the onion chunks, and the lemon juice. Process until the onion is pureed. It may be necessary to stir the mixture once or twice.

Soak 8 slices of the bread in the milk. Squeeze out the milk and add to the blender. Process until smooth.

With the blender running, add the oil in a thin, steady stream. When all the oil has been added, the mixture should be the consistency of thick mayonnaise. If it needs to be thicker, or if it is too salty, add the last slice of bread, first soaked in milk, then squeezed out.

Serve immediately, or even better, let mellow in the refrigerator for several hours. It will keep in the refrigerator for several days.