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Shad-Roe Sandwich
One set of shad-roe that has been cooked and pounded in a mortar, the yolks of five hard-boiled eggs chopped very fine, two teaspoonfuls of finely chopped capers, a dash of paprika, and two tablespoonfuls of tabasco sauce. Mix and place between thin slices of lightly buttered white bread.
A simple pounded-roe spread whose only real trap is the seasoning: as written the tabasco will overwhelm everything else. Taste as you go and treat the two tablespoonfuls as a misprint or a Edwardian dare.
- Tabasco quantityTwo tablespoonfuls of hot sauce against a single set of roe and five egg yolks is far past anything the capers or paprika can balance. Start with half a teaspoon, work up, and stop when the roe still tastes like roe.
- "One set of shad-roe"A set is the paired lobes from a single female shad, joined by a membrane, commonly somewhere around 6 to 12 oz depending on the fish. That is the working quantity here; buy one set, not one lobe.
- Cook it firstThe recipe assumes the roe is already cooked. Poach the intact set gently in barely simmering salted water with a squeeze of lemon for about 10 minutes, until firm and opaque throughout, then cool before working it. Fast boiling bursts the membrane and the eggs scatter.
- Mortar or processorPounding in a mortar gives a slightly grainy paste, which suits the sandwich. A food processor works but goes to a wet purée in seconds; pulse briefly, or mash with a fork instead.
- BindingRoe and hard yolks together are dry. A tablespoon of softened butter or mayonnaise worked in makes the mixture spreadable, and the original's "lightly buttered" bread is doing some of that job already.
- AvailabilityShad roe is a short spring item and American shad stocks have been under strict management along the Atlantic coast for decades, with several fisheries closed outright. Check what is legal and sold in your area; where roe is unavailable, cooked and mashed cod or salmon roe products give a related result, though not the same one.
- Yield and servingEnough for six to eight small tea sandwiches. Make them close to serving, since the mixture weeps a little into soft white bread if it stands.
Shad roe was one of the great seasonal luxuries of the American spring table. American shad run up the Atlantic rivers to spawn from late winter into spring, and the roe sets — traditionally sold in pairs, often with a rasher of bacon in the same order — were treated as the season's marker in Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York. That this recipe pairs the roe with capers and a heavy hand of tabasco says something about the period's fondness for sharply seasoned "deviled" fish spreads, a style that ran through potted crab, deviled ham and anchovy pastes alike. Persistent overfishing and dam-building on the spawning rivers have since made shad roe a scarce and closely regulated item.