Farmed Sturgeon Part II: Cooking Up Rye’s Smoked Sturgeon Salad w/Caviar

“The strange thing is, farmed sturgeon fillet is almost a by-product of the caviar. It’s great for chefs that it’s available now, and I think you’re going to see it in homes more and more. It’s a really forgiving fish. If you’re not comfortable cooking fish, you can cook sturgeon.”

Meet Executive Chef Cal Elliott from Rye Restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I’ve been hunting around for a local farmed sturgeon dish for awhile as a follow up piece to my Mote Marine farmed sturgeon story, to show how easy it is to cook with at home. When shopping around for seafood, I don’t think most of us put sturgeon at the top of our dinner list, but we should. It’s a meaty, not too oily, white fleshed fish that holds up to many cooking methods. And it’s one of Chef Elliott’s favorite fish to prepare.

At Rye, the chef has a 4-day process for his sturgeon.  He cures it, smokes it, then slices it thin to pile into his popular smoked sturgeon salad dish. This salad has everything you want in a salad. Great layers upon layers of texture, hot/cold elements, and a complexity that satisfies, instead of overwhelms. From the quail egg yolk that runs into the greens, to the crispy warm bacon, to the salty-sweet smoked sturgeon, to the break-with-your-tongue final layer of potatoes and caramelized onions, to the final dollop of sturgeon caviar. This dish is a must. And I hope it gets you interested in not only eating more farmed sturgeon, but cooking it at home as well. To find farmed sturgeon in New York City, head over to the fishmongers at The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market.

And don’t miss out on Rye Restaurant, in addition to their smoked sturgeon salad, I can give you a great many other recommendations, including a few cocktails by their very talented head bartender, Sother Teague: 247 S. 1st Street, Brooklyn, New York 11211

Thanks for watching food. curated. Happy Eating!