Shad roe ✦

Œufs d’alose

What it is

Shad run up rivers to spawn each spring, and the roe comes out as a pair of lobes joined by a membrane — sold, priced and cooked as one piece. John McPhee called it America’s founding fish for how much of it the colonies ate; in France the same run once fed every town along the Loire and the Gironde.

In the kitchen

Prick the membrane in a few places or the lobes burst in the pan. Six to eight minutes over gentle heat in butter or bacon fat, turned once — pushed further it goes chalky and there is no way back.

Goes with

Butter Lemon Parsley Sorrel Smoked cured pork belly Capers Shallot

Same species

Allis shad

In season alongside

Charolais Lamb neck Lamb shoulder Figatellu Lamprey Bamboo shoot

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