What Is Caviar: All You Need to Know About It
What Is Caviar: All You Need to Know About It
What items come to your mind first when you think about luxurious foods? There are a few possible options, but one of them must be caviar. Its rich taste and rarity make caviar the most desirable and the most expensive food item in the world.
We'll talk about where does caviar come from, and most importantly, how to eat caviar, and what to eat with caviar to enjoy all of its richness.
What Is Caviar?
Many still wonder what is caviar? It is fish roe or, simply put, unfertilized fish eggs. However, not every type of fish roe is caviar. For a fish roe to be true caviar, it needs to be harvested from wild sturgeon, the Acipenseridae family. Today, the wild sturgeon population is depleted due to overfishing, so you'll find a lot of caviar available that comes from fish farms.Why Is Caviar Considered an Exclusive Food Item?
Caviar is not only tasty, but it's a nutritive-rich food full of iron, vitamin B12, protein, and amino acids. There are various types of caviar, and every one of them has its unique characteristics and qualities. Depending on which one of the various types of caviar you choose to taste, you'll experience an extraordinary sensation of flavor in your mouth. The size, color, taste, aroma, and firmness all vary in different types of caviar, and based on it, two grades of caviar are established. Grade 1 is the premium grade fish roe, the richest in flavor, and the firmest. And the Grade 2 is fish roe moderately lower in quality. The process of harvesting caviar is delicate but labor-intensive, wild sturgeon is hard to find these days, and the demand is high– and all of that makes caviar an exclusive food item. The fish roe is harvested once the fish is ready to spawn, and the female fish only does it once every several years. It takes a lot of time to reach maturity and start producing eggs for a female sturgeon. Some species reach maturity only after 20 years, which is long.Different Types of Caviar
Five different types of caviar are today considered exclusive:- Beluga caviar – If you ask someone where does caviar come from, they'll probably tell you from the Caspian Sea. It is because the best, the rarest, the largest, and the most wanted caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon that's native to the Caspian Sea.
- Kaluga caviar – The freshwater sturgeon Kaluga also gives high-quality caviar and is considered the second-best.
- Osetra caviar – The osetra eggs are smaller than beluga, but they're excellent and more expensive as the fish is older.
- Sevruga caviar – This type is a mixture of three types of sturgeon eggs, the Siberian Sturgeon, Sterlet, and Sevruga. The eggs are small but have a delicious buttery taste to them.
- American caviar – This type is harvested from wild Atlantic sturgeon, white sturgeon, and lake sturgeon.
How to Eat Caviar
You need to know how to eat caviar to enjoy it truly. Eating caviar is always a memorable experience, and you'll want to learn what to eat with caviar.- On its own – To truly experience the taste of true caviar, especially if it's your first time eating it, try eating caviar on its own. It should be served chilled, on a bed of ice, and eaten with a special spoon. It would be best not to use a metal spoon because it can alter the taste, so a spoon made from a mother of pearl or bone is better.
- Served with other foods – If you want to eat caviar with other foods, it's perfect for eating with a simple piece of buttered toast. Or with a Russian-styled pancake, blini. If you want to pair it with something else, always choose neutral food like sour cream or crème Fraiche.