for Salting
Good quality caviar requires the right type (species) of sturgeon to be raised in pure water and for its eggs to be expertly extracted by someone with the right skills. However the key lies in the salting and ageing process. Unsalted eggs have no flavour; salt brings out the natural flavours of the fish roe and helps firm up the membrane – salt crystals harden the egg membrane as they pass through. The osmosis that occurs between the fish and the mineral salt enhances the caviar’s flavour profile. The whole process is very delicate. The true art of the caviar master lies in finding the perfect balance of salt: too little, and the eggs quickly deteriorate; too much, and the eggs dry out and become sticky. Ultimately, salt content between 4% and 10% is ideal. Each caviar house has its own salting techniques and Kaviari uses its own salt. Part of the process is about finding the perfect balance of flavours – a true trademark of quality caviar that stands out from the rest.
Acipenser schrenckii lives in the wild in the Amur River and is farmed in China. Sturgeon of this particular species grow up to 2 metres in length and weight up to 100kg; the much sought after Kristal® caviar comes from this fish.
The best time to eat caviar runs from the end of autumn through to spring. The seasonal rise and fall in production is linked to the spawning season: the sturgeon’s reproduction cycle is often triggered following a period of cold weather, around spring. In the Caspian Sea, there used to be two fishing seasons: one in spring that would run from March to Mid-May, and a second in autumn that would run from mid-September through to December. Farmed fish, raised in open-air natural bodies of water, follow the same cycles with the female’s eggs used for caviar reaching maturity between October and March. Massive fishing periods are organised from October through December to cover the increase in demand for caviar during the festive season. Some caviar houses also promote the spring caviar harvest as it is more in line with many sturgeon species’ natural spawning season: the eggs therefore reach optimal maturity.
Sevruga sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus) are small with a trumpet-like nose. Its body is covered with characteristically hard, star-shaped scales, which is why it is also known as the ‘starry sturgeon’. It never grows longer than 1.5m nor heavier than 25kg. Just like Osetra, Sevruga are omnivores; feeding of algae and small crustacean bottom-feeders. Female Sevruga start producing eggs around the age of 7-10 – much earlier than other sturgeon species. At this early stage, roe account for 10-12% of overall weight, though their quality continues to improve until the age of 20. Sevruga caviar grains a dark grey and rather small. The true connoisseurs caviar, it suits those who appreciate its delicate yet full-bodied flavour. There is currently very little in the way of Sevruga farming, which makes this particular caviar quite rare and highly coveted.
In Europe, when you think of caviar you think of Russia; however, the world famous ‘Russian’ caviar is in fact predominantly from Iran. Sturgeon in the Caspian Sea do indeed migrate up the Volga, towards Russia, but return south to the Iranian coast to spawn.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare mentions the quality of caviar as a metaphor for something that most average folk can neither understand nor appreciate, saying, «…T’was caviar for the general.»
Back in the USSR and for more than a century, Iran’s fisheries were under Russian control. It was only in 1952 that the country regained control over its own waters. The Shah of Iran declared a state-run caviar monopoly and nationalised all the fisheries, placing them under the control of the state-owned Shilat Trading Corporation. Even today, Shilat oversees all production, sale, and export of Iranian caviar, and this, despite that fact the wild caviar has been banned since 2008. Moreover, it serves as an advisory body for Iranian fish farms.
In its original usage, ‘spawn’ refers to newly lain fish or amphibian eggs; though the word is also used more generally as a verb to mean ‘to give rise to or create’.
When fish and amphibians reproduce, it is known as ‘spawning’. Females lay their eggs that the males then fertilize. The period during which fish spawn is known simply as spawning season.
There are 26 recorded species of sturgeon in the world. Population hot-spots are located in the middle of North America, the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans, and the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas. Today, only 9 species are maintained in farming; they include the Baerii, Beluga, Osetra, Transmontanus White sturgeon, and the Schrenckii.
Caviar is not to be devoured by the ladle, or with any old spoon for that matter! Spoons made out of metal, such as silver, are entirely out of the question as they oxidise the caviar, imparting it with an unwelcome taste. Wood, bamboo, mother-of-pearl, or porcelain spoons are best to enjoy caviar in its most unadulterated state.
When watching a game of football or rugby with a Frenchman, don’t be surprised should they mention un caviar. They’re not necessarily after a bi if Beluga, but rather complimenting a ‘perfect pass’ just performed by one of the players.
Sturgeon are fish belonging to the Acipenseridae family. Large in size, their long, sub-cylindrical bodies can reach up to 3.5m in length and weigh 500kg. The «pilgrim of the most illustrious waves», as described by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, has bony plates called scutes instead of scales, the position and number of which help determine the shape an species at hand. They can live up to 100 years of age! Such a long life can be explained by the fact that puberty, on average, ranges from 8 to 20 years for the different species. Be it anadromous or potamodromous, this migratory fish always heads upstream to spawn in fresh water. Sturgeon can be found almost all across the Northern Hemisphere where water is more temperate.
In the 2000’s, when faced with a declining wild sturgeon population, now an endangered species, caviar houses took it upon themselves to develop eco-responsible practices and rely more on farmed caviar. Today, fish farms are developed in a way to ensure the well-being of the fish and their surroundings. Unpolluted water, GMO-free feed, fish rearing in natural bodies of water... everything is done so the sturgeon live and grow in the best conditions possible until they first start producing roe. In their own way, fish farming and fish husbandry help preserve sturgeon species and restock dwindling numbers.