While we await the singing of the birds, blooming of the crocus and the greenery that indicates the arrival of spring the silent shad row have arrived without fanfare.

The shad spend their entire adult lives living at sea. Then, come spring, they swim upstream from the Atlantic Ocean towards the inland freshwater streams and rivers where they were born, and provide us with is a seasonal treat — shad roe — that’s worth looking forward to every year.

It’s hard to go wrong with roe. Sturgeon, salmon, cod and tuna make fantastic roe. While one can usually enjoy caviar or cod roe year-round, the shad roe season is short. Really short, in fact, as it typically lasts just a few months, from March until May, while the shad are making their run as far south as the Chesapeake Bay and as far north as southern New England.

The time is now, therefore, to steal a taste of this fleeting American delicacy. Be on the lookout for it on your favorite fine-dining menus. When you see it this spring, order it … while you still can, that is. You won’t regret it. Although it probably won’t look especially delicious to the shad roe newbie — inside the large, double roe sacs are millions of tiny fish eggs that are held together inside a thin membrane — the taste is fresh like the sea, and pure perfection.

TravelsinTaste talked to some of our favorite chefs about how they prepare the delicacy. Eric Ripert, executive chef and co-owner of New York’s Le Bernardin says he likes shad roe rare, but warm. “I like to sautee or bake them very slowly brushed with butter so they don’t explode, and at the same time they stay rare inside,” he says. “I like to serve them with a sauce that has some acidity in it, like a marinade almost. I use olive oil. some chopped capers, chopped shallots, chopped herbs, some chopped or diced fennel, and then lemon juice and a little bit of smoked salt. Because of the contrast of the acidity and the richness I think it’s very good. ”

What is a good wine pairing for a range of wallets? “It will have to be a white wine, for sure,” Ripert says. He recommends a wine with acidity, such as a sauvignon blanc by Cloudy Bay from New Zealand. For a more expensive wine, he suggests a white Bordeaux, like one by Chateau Lynch-Bages.

In New York’s Financial District, where rare commodities are traded with gusto, SHO Shaun Hergatt’s executive chef Shaun Hergatt prepares shad roe “lightly dusted with spice and flour and pan seared, served with lemon dust, fried capers and spring herbs.”  With an extensive wine cellar there are numerous selections and a knowledgeable beverage director, Carl York, to assist you with your special selection

Even shad’s Latin name — sapidissima — is delicious, meaning “most savory.”  Most savory, indeed. If you see us out to dinner this spring, don’t be surprised if you see us crooning the words of Ella Fitzgerald, who sang in her famous standard, Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love), “Waiter, bring me shad roe!”