Based in Erice, a small fishing village on the Northwest coast of Sicily, Conservificio Tre Torri continues to specialize in the preparation of fish by artisanal methods handed down from generation to generation. Vincenzo Macri somehow is able to procure a part of the supply of local tuna fished around the nearby island of Favignana. This is no easy feat. The majority of the catch is bound for Tsukiji---Tokyo's wholesale fish market. This is no ordinary tuna. This is Mediterranean Bluefin. In springtime tuna migrates from the Atlantic to the warmer Mediterranean waters. In this way, Tre Torri manages to prepare bottarga made from local tuna eggs. The whole egg sac is properly washed and salted and then dried in the sun. Nothing could be simpler. The final product's taste and quality depends upon the balance in the salting and the drying. Easy to say, hard to do. A pinch of salt less than necessary and the precious sac rots; a day longer in the sun, and it dries up. Dried tuna roe has a flavor that is stronger than grey mullet roe. It can be taken right out of the jar and eaten very simply with bread or added to omelets, rice or mashed potatoes.

Dried grated tuna roe - A specialty from Erice in Sicily

Enhances any dish with a wonderfully intense sea flavor

From tuna fished in the local waters of the Island of Favignana in Sicily

Can be used straight out of the jar: Try it sprinkled on pasta, risotto or scrambled eggs

A glass jar of 1.41 oz