Paul Ainsworth’s The Mariners taramasalata on toast

Method

1. Begin by pickling the cucumber. Add the sugar, vinegar, mustard seeds, olive oil and 150ml water to a pan. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat and leave to cool. Meanwhile, halve the cucumber lengthways and use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds before slicing into half-moons.
2. Add the cucumber slices to the pickle liquor in the pan and leave to pickle for at least 2 hours.
3. Cut the cod’s roe in half and, using a spoon, scrape out all the roe (discard the skin), then transfer to a food processor or blender. Add the ice cube and whizz until smooth (the ice cube keeps the blade cool and stops the roe splitting).
4. Transfer the whizzed roe to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attached. With the whisk at a high speed, gradually pour in the olive oil. The trick here is to pour close to the side of the bowl to prevent the whisk blades spraying the oil around.
5. Once you’ve added roughly half the oil, stop the whisk and use a spatula to scrape down the sides. Add 50ml cold water and the lemon juice, then carry on whisking at a high speed as you slowly add the remaining oil. The mixture should start to thicken, with the oil emulsifying into the roe, and it will begin to resemble a light pink mayonnaise.
6. Once all the oil has been added, stop and taste the taramasalata. Add more lemon juice if needed and a pinch of salt to season. The mixture should be light, fluffy and slightly looser than a mayonnaise consistency. If it’s too thick, whisk in a touch of cold water to loosen. Spoon the taramasalata into a bowl, cover and keep in the fridge until ready to use.
7. To serve, put a griddle pan over a high heat. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the cut side on both sides of the sourdough bread. Drizzle both sides with olive oil and season with salt. Griddle until brown and crisp on both sides.
8. Put the griddled sourdough on a platter and spoon the taramasalata over the warm bread. Season with the paprika and seaweed powder, garnish with the dill and finish with a drizzle of oil, with the pickled cucumber on the side.