Caviar becomes the most desirable, extravagant and rare food of the modern times, heading the list of luxury foods for the holidays. 100 years ago, the U.S. was the largest exporter of caviar, which was so plentiful that bars used it like a thirst-enhancer. Sadly today, overfishing virtually wiped out sturgeon worldwide, and only recently has the industry been revived by boutique aquaculture producers.
Ironically, sturgeon are one of the worlds oldest species going back 250 million years, having survived the dinosaurs. They are one of the most ancient groups of bony fishes, a heritage from the Mesozoic era, known from fishes present during the Devonian period, which occurred 360-408 million years ago. The first written record of caviar can be found in the journals of Batu Khan (Ghengis Khans grandson) dating back to the 1240s.
There are roughly two dozen types of sturgeon that can grow to enormous size. Some live for 100 years and take as long as 25 years to become egg-bearing. The sturgeon most highly prized for their roe nowadays are the sevruga, ossetra and beluga from the Caspian and Black seas. The Beluga is the largest known freshwater fish (the largest one on record weighed in at 2,175kg).
Sturgeon eggs vary in size and color:
-
Sevruga caviar is small-grained and ranges from gray to black;
-
Ossetra has medium-sized gray, black or a bronze tone grains;
-
Beluga, from the biggest fish, has large black grains.
Noticing the decline of this valuable resource, the old Soviet Union imposed very strict controls on caviar and learnt how to spawn Sturgeon in the late eighteen hundreds, releasing the fingerlings back into the Caspian Sea. Unfortunately most of the eggs of the mature Sturgeon in the Caspian Sea are now non-fertile due to genetic malformation directly attributable to the high pollution levels.
It took 20 years of research, but in the early 1990s science finally found a way to successfully farm 2 smaller species of Sturgeon: a native of Siberia (acipenser baeri) and the native white Sturgeon (acipenser transmontanus). Farming enables complete control over the fishs lifecycle and harvesting of the roe at the optimal time, guaranteeing a consistent quality and, best of all, without endangering the already depleted wild Sturgeon population.
The best caviar to choose is fresh malossol,'' slightly salted.
Lot of chefs garnish their creations with caviar, but luxury restaurants offer it straight.
Rather than having salmon roe, lumpfish roe, tobikko, tarama or trout roe, black caviar is preferred.
Good caviar should be indulged pure. But enjoying it with toast points, blinis, creme fraiche or on top of hard-boiled eggs are also very common. A must is the company of a cold dry Champagne or iced vodka. Caviar staircase tastings -beluga, ossetra and sevruga, are also classic.
Today, ZwyerCaviar offers you the ultimate experience with one of the worlds supreme caviar. Fresh from the virgin waters of Rio Negro. Enjoy your graceful and unforgettable moments in the elegant company of these exceptional black pearls. Outrageous gourmet indulgence for an ultimate luxury experience.
|
