Why don’t we eat all fish eggs? I wondered this while eating an unusual form of eggs on a return trip to Sardinia, where my husband and I lived for a couple of years while he was in the Navy. These are a very popular type known as “bottarga” and are not served on top of fancy toasts or raw oysters, but instead the pouch containing the roe is salted, cured and sealed in wax before being either grated over simple things like pasta or sliced thinly and served on crackers. Maybe these eggs are popular because the meat of the fish they come from is not tasty. Mullet is a broad group of 78 different species found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters, mostly in salt water but also in freshwater. While mullet filet is not prized, the flavor of the bottarga is strong and definitely fishy but is complex as a standalone flavor or useful as a flavor enhancer due to its umami-like properties. As is true of many types of eggs, fish eggs are highly nutritious and are packed full of nutrients like essential amino acids, minerals and fats.

“Bottarga” is a term used not just for mullet roe but is instead a more general term referring to salted, cured fish eggs. A fancier type of bottarga, also made in Sardinia, is made from tuna — a prized catch off the southern coast. Sardinia is not the only place in the world where bottarga is made and tuna and mullet aren’t the only types of fish used. As long as the fish’s eggs are small, you can usually make bottarga from them. So, salmon and sturgeon eggs are better saved for caviar, for example. From Japanese karasumi made with mackerel eggs to Korean myeongnan made from pollock (along with gochugaru to make a spicy bottarga variation), to Norway’s bottarga made from Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), the same species we have here in Maine — there are many types of bottarga made throughout the world. Even in the United States, there are companies in North Carolina and Florida making bottarga from mullet roe. None in Maine that I know of, at least to date.

Worldwide, the process is fairly similar. The roe sacs are removed, covered in salt, pressed to exude any extra air, left in the sun to dry and then sealed in wax to preserve them. The tradition apparently originated either in Egypt in the 10th century B.C.E. or Greece way back in 600 B.C.E. And the original name was “battarikh,” an Arabic word that is still used today for bottarga produced in that part of the world. As with many types of food that have found their way across seas, this tradition evolved both as a way to preserve the eggs (bottarga lasts a very long time) but also as a way to utilize every single part of the fish in some way. Drying, salting, pickling — all of these methods have been used not just in seafood but with many seasonal foods throughout the world, as has the discovery of unique ways to use unusual parts of plants and animals in an effort to reduce wasting good, locally harvested food.

If you’re interested in trying this odd fishy food, known as Sardinian gold, you can order it online. Or you can actually make it yourself if you’re a fisherman or have access to fresh, whole fish. There is a process that only takes about a week described on “The Spruce Eats” website at thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-bottarga. I haven’t done it myself, but I do enjoy eating it. And I always enjoy learning how different cultures throughout the world have found unique ways to appreciate their local seafood.

Susan Olcott is the director of strategic partnerships at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.