Bottarga

Brothers Seth and Mic Cripe, both proud Florida natives, founded Cortez Conservas with a deep-rooted mission: to create the world’s finest bottarga while championing their local fishing community. Their work goes beyond bottarga, extending to a range of sustainably sourced and thoughtfully preserved seafood products. By focusing on locally caught fish and traditional preservation methods, they’re helping to bring both economic value and culinary recognition to the historic fishing village of Cortez, located near Anna Maria Island on Florida’s Gulf Coast. This region is home to one of the last truly sustainable wild fisheries in the United States.

Cortez Conservas is the first producer of mullet bottarga made entirely in the U.S., offering what they proudly consider the purest expression of Striped Grey Mullet Bottarga. Bottarga is a delicacy made from the roe (eggs) of grey mullet or tuna. The roe sacs are carefully harvested, salted, and air-dried over several weeks, resulting in a firm, amber-colored slab of intensely savory flavor. Grated or thinly sliced, bottarga adds a briny, umami-rich depth to dishes like pasta, vegetables, or salads, and has been prized in Mediterranean cuisine for centuries.