Caviar has always been one of the gastronomic symbols of luxury. If caviar pleases your palate then the flavour and consistency become quite irresistible. Where does the charm of caviar come from? Certainly, as well as it being a precious food there is also a special aura surrounding it, due to the way it is fished and processed.
The most highly-prized caviar comes from the coasts of the Caspian Sea in Iran where the sturgeons are fished and relieved of their precious cargo of eggs.
The Sevruga, a small sturgeon with very good flesh, produces fine grain, slate grey, almost black caviar with a pronounced fragrance. The Asetra sturgeon can weigh between 20kg and 80 kg. It produces caviar which varies from dark grey to golden in colour, with a flavour which reminds you of seaweed and walnuts, and a more pronounced texture. A subspecies of Asetra is the Karaburun, and this fish's caviar arrived last on the market.
Finally there is the Beluga, which is the biggest of the caviar producing fish weighing between 40 and 300 kg. The caviar obtained from one fish corresponds to about 15% of its weight. It is a strong, wild fish which is not only difficult to catch but reaches the rivers where it deposits its eggs only once every 2 to 4 years. The Beluga caviar is large-grained with a soft skin and varies from light to dark grey in colour.
Sturgeon fishing is from February to May but the best quality is found in the spring.
In Iran, the caviar is graded according to colour, consistency, size, evenness, smell, gloss and flavour. The only method of preservation is sodium chloride (salt) with the addition of a touch of boric acid (borax). The salt is added extremely carefully in precise quantities so as not to damage the product: if there is too little salt then the caviar deteriorates rapidly, if there is too much then the caviar becomes dry and sticky.
