MapMuse - Locate Beluga Caviar, Ostera Caviar, Sevruga Caviar; Where to buy Near You

...Osetra's flavor is nutty, slightly fruity flavor.

Sevruga Caviar The Sevruga sturgeon produces the smallest roe of the three major caviar types. Sevruga are more abundant than the other two, thus it is the least costly. The roe is black to very light grey in color and, has a buttery flavor similar to Beluga, but saltier, richer, and more intense.

Tasty, Less Expensive Alternatives

Farmed Caviar Few realize that the United States used to produce about 90% of the world's caviar. It was so plentiful that it was served in saloons like pretzels are today. As supply dwindled, however, so did production. The U.S. and more than a dozen other countries in similar circumstances have begun sturgeon farming operations to preserve both the species and the industry. Commonly farmed varieties are Osetra, Baerii, and White Sturgeon.

People should live as well as farm-raised sturgeon. They swim in artesian well water, are fed the ideal, toxin-free diet, and have no predators. Of course, they do give their all for the cause in the end. Their roe is harvested at the ideal time for premium quality caviar. For consumers it all means a consistently high quality, lower-priced caviar, not from endangered stock. Try it.

American Caviar Sometimes misleadingly used to refer to any caviar from America, it actually refers to American lake sturgeon as opposed to Caspian Sea sturgeon. (There's an old story in my family about a fisherman, a small fishing boat, a sturgeon, and a long, long ride up and down the river.) Its roe is very similar in characteristics to Caspian Sevruga caviar.

Paddlefish Caviar With its clear, glossy beads, buttery flavor, and steel gray to light or even golden-gray roe, this is a good substitute for Beluga caviar. It is sometimes marketed as American caviar.

Hackleback Caviar This caviar combines the sweet, nutty, and buttery characteristics of other caviars. Its roe is a rich, glossy black color of medium size, firm.

Bowfin Caviar This caviar, more commonly know by its Cajun name, Choupique, is considered another of the better substitutes for Beluga. It has a distinctively sturgeon essence, with a mild flavor and firm, black beads, although smaller in size than Beluga.

Salmon Caviar This bright golden-orange or reddish-orange caviar is the favorite of sushi chefs everywhere. Its juicy medium to large sized roe, even larger than Beluga, has a distinctive popping characteristic in the mouth and a fairly intense salmon flavor. And because salmon have scales, salmon caviar is considered a kosher food.

Whitefish Caviar This is a small-grained, almost crunchy caviar of the salmon family, with a distinctive natural golden color and mild flavor. Another favorite of chefs. Whitefish roe is sometimes infused with ginger, truffle or saffron flavors for added interest.

Trout Caviar This is an interesting caviar, said to be good enough to eat off the spoon. It has large, golden-orange beads and a subtle flavor. It has a nice 'pop' like salmon roes.

Lumpfish Caviar This is a very inexpensive yet versatile caviar from cold, Nordic waters, surprisingly good-tasting. It has a very fine-grained, crunchy roe and intense briney flavor that is ideal for appetizers and garnishes. It comes in black and red, and is one of the pasteurized caviar types.

Capelin Caviar similar to lumpfish, but chewy, pasteurized and artificially colored.

How to eat caviar

Eat it simply. Most caviar connoisseurs agree that caviar, especially the good stuff, should be both served and eaten simply. Eating the roe without any kind of garnish is the purest way to go. However, to ease the taste, you can spread a teaspoon of caviar over some lightly toasted bread or a high quality cracker.

Step2

Take it in small amounts. Taking helpings of a teaspoon or two at a time will help you savor the taste of the food. Also, if you're eating caviar at a social gathering, it's often considered rude or incorrect to take large portions of the caviar at a single time, so keep each helping teaspoon-sized.

Step3

Add cream or lemon. Within the caviar loving world there is considerable debate about garnishes and side dishes such as lemon or cream. The only way for you to decide on the issue is to try it yourself. Start off with creme fraiche on the side. You can add a tiny dollop of the cream on top of the caviar. Also try a small squeeze of lemon to amplify the caviar's flavor.

Cook with it.

If you want to try a different take on eating caviar, you can use it as an ingredient in other dishes. Look to inexpensive caviar such as capelin or whitefish caviar so you can incorporate the food into fish dishes or use the caviar as an elegant garnish to dishes such as steak. While there is no correct way to cook with caviar, just remember that the caviar should be prominent enough in the dish to still be tasted.

What is Caviar

Caviar is the processed salted roe of various species of fish, most notably sturgeon. It is commercially marketed throughout the world as a delicacy and is eaten principally as a garnish or spread, as with hors d'oeuvres. The name "caviar" comes from the Persian word (Kha-g-a-var) which means "the roe-generator". This name in Persian means the sturgeon and its product, the roe. Russian uses an unrelated name, ikra which simply means "roe".

Today, black caviar comes from sturgeon that is fished from the Caspian Sea by Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia. Some of the highest prices are paid for Beluga, Ossetra, and Sevruga varieties (note that the large-grained Beluga caviar comes from the Beluga sturgeon and has nothing to do with the Beluga whale — whales do not lay eggs). The rare golden Sterlet caviar was once the favorite of czars, shahs and emperors, but the species is now nearly extinct. Dwindling yields due to overfishing and pollution have resulted in less costly alternatives, processed from the roe of whitefish and North Atlantic salmon, becoming popular. The word "malossol" on the label means "little salt" in Russian, and indicates that it has been processed with a minimum amount of salt. Caviar contains typically 4-8% salt, with the better varieties generally containing less salt.