Caviar is the term used for the salt-cured roe, or eggs, of fish in the sturgeon family. Traditionally, this has meant fish exclusively located in the Caspian and Black Seas, but modern caviar is sourced from other areas as well, including the Atlantic Ocean.
How do you eat caviar?
Caviar is considered a delicacy all over the world. The roe can be eaten straight out of the container off of a spoon or served on toast points. Typical accouterments include lemon wedges, sour cream, minced onions, and minced hard-boiled egg, which are placed on the toast point with the caviar and eaten together. The key to eating caviar, however, is to eat it cold. This is the reason caviar is often served in bowls surrounded by ice.
What is good quality caviar?
Like buying fish at the grocery store, caviar should not smell fishy, but rather it should smell like the sea. The roe should be clearly separated into individual eggs and each egg should 'pop' in your mouth when eaten. If caviar has a mushy texture, smells fishy, or has a slimy coating, it is not high-quality caviar and may not be as fresh as it should be.
Are there different types of caviar?
There are different types of caviar, including:
- Beluga. Beluga caviar is harvested from the beluga sturgeon located in the Caspian Sea and has large black eggs. Beluga caviar is considered to be highly flavorful.
- Osetra. Osetra caviar is made up of slightly smaller eggs that are brownish in color. In fact, the older the fish gets, the lighter in shade its eggs are. Osetra caviar from older fish is highly prized by caviar connoisseurs.
- Sevruga. Another caviar from the Caspian Sea region, sevruga has smaller, gray eggs that are known for having a buttery taste.
While caviar is widely available from China and the United States, Russian caviar has historically been considered the best.
What's so special about Russian caviar?
Russian caviar has long been considered the benchmark for world-class caviar. In fact, beluga caviar is said to be the world's best, with Russian osetra caviar a close second. The roe harvested for Russian caviar is considered to be more flavorful than other varieties.
Where can you buy caviar?
Once difficult to acquire, caviar is now readily available in high-end stores and online. In fact, Russian Osetra caviar for sale online can easily be shipped directly to your home and enjoyed whenever the desire arises.
If you have never had caviar before, order some Russian osetra caviar online and make 2022 your year to try new delicacies.
