The American shad is an anadromous fish: Like the salmon, it spends most of its life in salt water but swims upriver, into fresh water, to spawn. Unlike the salmon it sometimes survives the breeding process; though greatly depleted, the shad can return to the sea, fatten itself on plankton during the fall and winter, and attempt another "run" with the return of warmer river waters.
That run can be cut short, of course, by fishermen who prize the oil-rich if bony flesh — the shad is a member of the herring family — and, especially, the egg mass from a pregnant female. Often fish roe is deep-fried, sometimes gently, sometimes brusquely; here the shad roe has been pickled, then interlarded with confit pork belly ($14). The second photo shows a few slices of the roe pouch cleared of most chicory and pork.
Rappahannock Oyster Bar
Inside Union Market, 1309 5th St. N.E. (at Neal Pl.), Washington, D.C.
www.facebook.com/RappahannockOysterBar
202-544-4702
Closed Monday and Tuesday
(From an Easter 2013 visit)
