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The fish van came this morning with some fabulous roes (I think they're probably cod if not it's some big bugger! ). Anyway I want to smoke them and make taramasalata.

I've made it in the past, so don't need a recipe, but I've always bought smoked roes.

So does anyone know what preparation I need to do? I'm wondering if I need to brine it or anything before smoking.

I'm going to hot smoke them (mainly because that's all I've got).

Any ideas?

I've had a quick google and I'm having a go.

Thus far I've put the roe in a pan of some approx 50% brine, just enough to cover it. I've brought it up to the boil and taken it off the heat and in half an hour or so I'll give it about 10-15 minutes in the hot smoker (it weighs about 400g).

I'll let you know how it goes.

Hi GA. After soaking in brine the roe might benefit from drying out (smoke doesn't like to stick to anything wet). After the brine pat it dry and give it at least an hour to air dry before smoking. After smoking bung it in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the flavours to mellow. Cor, just love smoked food, can't wait to hear how it turned out.

Missed your post CM. So I plodded on my merry way.

Basically I left it in the brine until we were ready to smoke it - that was probably a couple of hours. Then hot smoked over oak chips for about 20 mins - I think, it's difficult to tell when the smoking actually starts in my smoker. I left it to cool and then froze it in two portions. Smelled divine but I won't probably won't get round to using it until next week.

But a Greek summer dinner will be on the menu, taramasalata, hummus and tzatziki (bugger seasonal eating for one night)