About Caviar

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What is Caviar?

The traditional definition of caviar is not simply “fish eggs” as some may refer to it. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, roe from any fish not belonging to the Acipenseriformes species and Salmon are not caviar.

True caviar comes exclusively from fish of the Acipenseridae family, also widely known as sturgeon. The eggs are harvested from the female sturgeon before fertilization and then cured with salt to enhance the flavour and increase the shelf-life of the finished product. This combination of unfertilized sturgeon eggs and salt is the delicacy known as caviar.

It’s predominantly found in the Caspian and Black seas, separating Russia from the Middle East. In addition, 90% of the global caviar comes from the Caspian Sea, naturally providing the ideal habitat for the production of the best types of Sturgeon fish.

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Caviar is a delicious and highly nutritious type of seafood, and it is named the elixir of life due to its anti-oxidants and healing properties
Origin of the word “Caviar”: (Persian: Khāviyār‎) is a delicacy consisting of salt-cured fish-eggs of the Acipenseridae family. The roe can be “fresh” (non-pasteurized) or pasteurized, with pasteurization reducing its culinary and economic value.

Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Sea

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Caviar Color and variety

Caviar comes in a rainbow range of different colours, adding to the excitement and eagerness of including a portion of caviar on your dining table; the colours range from black, silver-grey, light-yellow, pearl-grey and even golden caviar.

The main types of caviar are Beluga, Sterlet, Kaluga hybrid, Oscietra, Siberian sturgeon and Sevruga. The rarest and most costly caviar is extracted from the beluga sturgeon that swims in the full-fledged Caspian Sea.

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Types of Caviar

Beluga
Whilst producing the most expensive form of Caviar, this is evidently for good reason. The Beluga sturgeon can take up to 20 years in order to reach maturity. The fish harvested for caviar are often nearly 300 kg (2,000 lb). The eggs themselves are the largest of the commonly used roes, and range in colour from dark-grey (almost black) to light-grey, with the lighter colours coming from the older fish, and being the most highly valued.

A pearly white variety, called Almas (Persian word for diamond), taken from a centennial female sturgeon, is the rarest type of Beluga available, with an extremely small production. The added fascination is that this specific Beluga fish would usually be aged more than 100 years old.

Oscietra
Oscietra caviar varies in colour, ranging from deep brown to gold. Lighter varieties are more sought as they have the richest flavour and come from the oldest of sturgeon.

Golden Oscietra is extremely rare and is an outstanding golden-yellow colour, featuring an amazingly rich flavour; oscietra is extracted from the Sturgeon fish, aged 50 years old.

Sevruga
A rare type of caviar known as Imperial Caviar, from the Sterlet sturgeon (Acipenser ruthenus), a now nearly extinct species of sturgeon from the Caspian Sea.

Sevruga aged less than 50 years old. Thus, it is considered of poorer quality relative to the other types of caviar.

Imperial Caviar
The smoothest Caviar, it is a complex array of briny notes, bursting with flavours of the sea. True experts recognize the difference instantly due to its large and glossy eggs.

Exquisite richness and sublime flavour, it claims to be the pinnacle of Caviar artistry and is only available in limited quantities at Gourmet House.

Royal Beari
Light to dark grey in colour, this Caviar has small eggs and a delicious taste. The original is a must for beginners who want to indulge in authentic flavour of Caviar.
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