The Ultimate Guide to Caviar, Fine Dining’s Most Luxurious Delicacy

What Is Caviar Made Of?

Caviar is unfertilised eggs, also known as roe, that are harvested exclusively from the sturgeon family of fish and then salt-cured. There are other popular types of fish roe, such as the bright orange salmon roe (ikura) which sits atop sushi, but only sturgeon roe is considered caviar. Caviar is always spherical in shape, while its colour can range from jet black to deep khaki green, depending on the specific variety. It has a delicate flavour and is not overly fishy or salty, but rather smooth and buttery. Sometimes it can have a nutty taste similar to that of hazelnut. Authentic caviar has a famous “Caspian pop”, which occurs when the roe bursts on the palate.

What Are the Different Types of Caviar?

There are many different species of sturgeon that produce their own unique type of caviar. According to Ilya Panchernikov, the managing director of Caviar Russe, a high-end Madison Avenue restaurant that specialises in caviar, the three species of sturgeon that made caviar famous were beluga, osetra and sevruga. “Beluga caviar was always considered the best because of its rarity and size, followed by osetra and sevruga,” Panchernikov says. “In addition, there are other caviar-producing sturgeons, including the Pacific sturgeon and Siberian sturgeon.” If that is not enough, there is also a myriad of hybrids being produced: beluga × Siberian, Chinese hybrid (dauricus × schrencki) and osetra × beluga, to name but a few.

Where Is Caviar Produced?

Until just a few decades ago, caviar was harvested from wild sturgeon swimming in the Caspian and Black Seas. Fishermen would capture the fish, cut out the roe sacs that held the eggs and throw the fish back in to die. This overfishing critically endangered wild sturgeon, so the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species put a series of bans and trade embargoes in place, making it illegal to sell or harvest wild caviar in the United States. Today, most of the world’s caviar is farmed across the globe, from China to the Middle East to Madagascar.

According to Rod Mitchell, president of Browne Trading Company, a premier supplier of fine caviar in the Northeast, it matters less where it is produced and more how it is actually produced. “The most reliable places to buy caviar are not areas but reputable farms,” Mitchell says. “We at Browne Trading co-brand with producers and farms so customers actually know where their caviar is farmed and produced.” Panchernikov echoes this approach, and Caviar Russe is focused on forging relationships with artisanal sturgeon farms, mainly in Europe, to produce caviar “which resembles what was once available in the wild”.

Do Farmed and Wild Caviar Taste Different From One Another?

The main difference is taste. A fish’s diet and environment contribute greatly to the flavour of the caviar it produces, including how briny, rich or buttery it is. Wild fish have a diet that is eclectic and varied; hence, their roe has a more complex flavour. Conversely, farmed sturgeon have a controlled diet, which results in consistent quality and a uniform taste.

Panchernikov says wild and farmed caviar have a similar taste, “but wild caviar would most likely have a greater intensity overall”.

Why Is Caviar So Expensive?

Well, “expensive” can be a subjective term and, thanks to the influx of farmed sturgeon, the price of caviar has dropped substantially. Generally, you can expect to fork out around US$100, give or take, for an ounce of premium caviar.

But you get what you pay for. On the higher end of the spectrum, you’ll find caviar that reflects the time and effort invested in the fish, as opposed to cheap caviar, which is often the result of substandard production. “Cheap caviar is usually inconsistent, old, soft, salty or just plain awful,” Mitchell says. Also, the best caviar is not something that can be produced quickly. Premium purveyors like Astrea wait until sturgeon are 10 years old before harvesting the eggs. That type of investment in time costs money.

Where Should You Store Caviar and for How Long?

You should keep caviar in the coldest part of your fridge, usually at the bottom, at between 34 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit. An unopened tin of caviar can be stored in the fridge for 10 days to two weeks. However, because caviar gets saltier as it ages, it is best eaten fresh.

What Are the Tell-Tale Signs of Good and Bad Caviar?

More than 20 years ago, Mitchell and acclaimed chef Daniel Boulud came up with a grading system known as “The Three Ts” to assess caviar. It stands for Taste, Texture and Tone. In terms of taste, there should be no bitter, overly salty or unpleasant flavours. For texture, the eggs should be firm enough to separate with your tongue and should pop when pressed against the roof of your mouth. As for tone, the eggs should have a clean colour and an attractive glisten. Panchernikov adds that good caviar should have low salinity, a rich buttery flavour and leave no aftertaste. “A good rule of thumb is to treat caviar like oysters. If it tastes wrong, it is probably either old or poor quality,” he says.

How Should You Serve and Eat Caviar?

Lauded French chef and long-time caviar enthusiast Eric Ripert, who even had his own exclusive caviar line at one point, says “good-quality caviar doesn’t need too much to be enhanced”. Purists will simply dollop caviar on the back of the hand with a bone or mother-of-pearl spoon. Metal utensils are to be avoided as they may oxidise the caviar. Others pile the roe high atop a warm blini along with a smattering of crème fraîche. The Le Bernardin chef says he likes to serve it simply with Pullman white bread.That is not to say the delicacy is limited to this type of preparation. Ripert himself has served roe-packed croque monsieurs and caviar-embellished wagyu. And his Michelin-starred contemporary, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, approaches caviar in a similar fashion. “We serve caviar in many different ways, from simple melba toast or warm blinis to my egg caviar and caviar creations,” the chef says. Vongerichten’s inventive creations see the ingredient paired with lemon gelée, egg toast, warm potatoes, tapioca, yoghurt and herbs.

Of course, experimenting with roe is not a new phenomenon. Ripert recalls working in the kitchen with Joël Robuchon in 1983 and incorporating caviar into a bunch of eclectic recipes. But since the delicacy has become somewhat democratised, it is being featured on many more menus. “Because the price of caviar has dropped dramatically, more and more chefs are using it in their cooking,” Ripert says. The influx of sustainable and ethical farms has also contributed to the rise in popularity. “It is still an expensive item, but now it is a lot more accessible, as there are farms everywhere,” Vongerichten adds. But, really, there is no wrong way to eat it.