Roe will float your boat if you like it 'fishy'

A lot of people don't know that types of fish have a season -- just like tomatoes, peaches and other landlubber food.

But George Streblow, the owner of Sea Products on West End Boulevard, knows. And he regularly shares that knowledge with customers in his e-newsletters.

The latest newsletter mentioned the start of the season for American shad and its roe. It caught my eye because I realized I had managed to live 48 years without ever eating shad roe (fish eggs).

Now this is fresh roe, not the brined, salty caviar. I knew that shad has one of the most prized roes, along with mackerel, herring and carp.

I had to try it.

When I called Streblow and mentioned shad roe, he laughed. "It's fishy and strong," he said. "You either love it or hate it."

American shad is a member of the herring family. The fish hatch in rivers or estuaries, go out to sea to grow, then return to fresh water to spawn.

The season begins in February in Florida and works its way up the East Coast. Streblow started getting shad in early March. It's hard to predict how long it will last, he said. But he estimated that the shad will be available for a couple of more weeks.

Shad average from two to five pounds.

The whole roe

Streblow buys the fish whole, with the roe inside. The roe consists or two lobes, or egg sacs, encased in a membrane. The two lobes are called a set, and Streblow sells a set, which averages a bit less than a half-pound, for $10.95.

He sells the whole fish, roe and all, for about $3 a pound. The fish without the roe is dirt cheap, at $1 a pound.

"You don't have many takers for the meat," Streblow said, because shad has literally hundreds of tiny bones. Many of them are small, hairlike bones running every which way throughout the meat. Deboning a fillet is a "dead art," and the best most people can do is get a few thin strips of boneless meat off the fish.

Sometimes Streblow will sell a few strips for about $7 a pound.

It's a shame about all those bones, because the meat is delicious. "It's very good, soft (in texture) like flounder, but with a nice sweetness to it," Streblow said.

A few people will take the whole fish, roe and all, and bake it for several hours at a low temperature. That method at least softens the bones. Also, once the fish is cooked, you can pick out the bones with your fingers if you have that kind of patience.

Family tradition

Anne Geis, the owner of Salem Kitchen, and her husband, Jack, prepare shad roe as a kind of rite of spring every year.

"Jack was raised in Baltimore, and it was a tradition in his family. People in Virginia and Maryland get excited over shad roe more than people here," she said. "When I was a little girl, people would buy cans of the roe and make fish cakes with it. That was what you called Depression roe."

Geis told me not to waste my time cooking the whole fish and roe for hours the old-fashioned way. The bones do soften, she said, but they never dissolve. "And I would never serve shad to children and grandchildren. It's too dangerous," she said.

She and her husband eat the fish and the roe -- separately.

"There's nothing that quite compares to it," she said.

I was determined to find out.

I bought a whole fish, and had Streblow remove the roe and cut the rest into two bony fillets.

I soaked the roe set in cold, salted water as Streblow suggested, to season it and to help firm up the delicate egg sacs. The roe is often cooked in bacon drippings. I had some sausage drippings, so I used those instead to sauté the whole roe about 3 minutes on each side, just until firm.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. The roe has a fine grainy texture similar to scrapple, or beef ground to pen-point-size pieces. Geis likened the texture to firm grits.

The taste is very distinct. It vaguely reminded me of soft-shell crab on the positive side, but with a hint of liverish flavor. With some lemon sprinkled on it, I didn't have trouble finishing my portion.

I liked the meat of the fish more. It really is delicious, sweet as Streblow described, as well as bit earthy, with lots more flavor than many soft-fleshed white fish.

I didn't mind picking through the bones too much, but it does take more effort than most people probably would want to put into it.

I actually liked eating the meat and roe together. So I can see how people like to cook the fish whole.

Shad roe is a niche market, but it has its devotees. "This time of year people start calling me up, asking about it," Streblow said. "Some people will buy six sets and freeze some of them for when after the season runs out."

I won't be one of them. But now I can at least say I've tried it.

■ Michael Hastings, the Journal's Food editor, can be contacted by phone at 727-7394, e-mail at mhastings@wsjournal.com, or mail at c/o Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. 3159, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. His most recent columns can be read on our Web site at www.journalnow.com.