Duo of green asparagus and home-made tarama dip

Ingredients

12 fresh asparagus shoots

© Susie Waroude

Tarama

• 100 g smoked cod roe
• 1 lemon
• 60 g sunflower oil
• 2 slices of bread
• 1 egg yolk
• Milk

Lemon dressing

• ½ lemon
• 4 soupspoons of olive oil
• Salt
• Espelette pepper

Topping

• Mustard leaves
• Trout roe

Preparation

Asparagus

Peel the asparagus shoots up to 6 cm from the tip. Cook 8 shoots in salted boiling water for 3 minutes and then soak them in ice cold water for 2 minutes. Drain. 
Chop the remaining shoots in half. Using a peeler, grate them lengthways.

Tarama

Remove the skin from the pouch of smoked cod roe, blend with the egg yolk, the sliced bread (crust removed and soaked in milk), and the pressed lemon juice. Once the mixture is smooth, blend in the sunflower oil as you would do for a mayonnaise. Add salt to taste.

Presentation

Cut the cooked asparagus shoots into 3 cm sections. Drizzle some lemon dressing on top. Arrange the sections of cooked asparagus into a crown shape, fill the centre with tarama, decorate with the grated raw asparagus, the trout roe, and the mustard leaves.

© Susie Waroude

By Maxime Pujol, chef at the restaurant Bergamote

More than 200 new recipes have been produced in the kitchens of Bergamote, which is named after the chef’s favourite citrus fruit, since it was opened in July 2021, by Maxime Pujol, Colyne Chirouze and Claire Achard in the dining room. We had to pick one, however, and this asparagus recipe came to the mind of Chef Pujol, previously of La Cour des Loges (in Lyon’s 5th district) and Le Gourmet de Sèze (in Lyon’s 6th district), during the time of Jérémy Galvan. With its seasonal, local, responsible and organic cuisine, and its chlorophyllous decor, Bergamote has rapidly established a reputation in Lyon’s Gerland neighbourhood and beyond. In March 2022, it received a Bib gourmand from the Michelin guide, which is awarded to menus under €35 that offer the best value for money. In recent weeks, the restaurant also won acclaim at TheFork Awards, the first trophy awarded based on votes from the public, which has been well and truly won over by this fresh bistronomic restaurant.