Real caviar...
is the cleaned, defatted and salted roe of fish. The eggs of various sturgeon species, mainly from the Black Sea, Azov Sea, Caspian Sea and Arctic Ocean, are called real caviar. Real Russian and Persian caviar comes from female fish that are sexually mature and ready for slaughter. The eggs are removed in an immature state in order to survive the subsequent cleaning process. Immediately after slaughter, the untreated eggs are pale and glassy, only after treatment with salt do they become darker. There are three main types of sturgeon caviar, named after the species of sturgeon from which the eggs are taken. Ossietra, Beluga and Sevruga.
The classic types of caviar
Beluga caviar
The caviar of the beluga sturgeon is considered the finest and most valuable. The individual grain measures 3.5 mm, the largest diameter of all sturgeon caviar, its eggs, light gray to anthracite, are plump and protected with a thin skin; the aroma is pleasantly mild. With a length of up to nine meters and a weight of up to 1400 kg, the beluga is the largest freshwater fish on earth. The beluga lives in the Caspian and Black Seas and takes about 20-25 years to reach spawning maturity. The cans of Beluga Caviar are marked in blue.
Ossietra caviar
Ossietra sturgeon caviar (Osietra, Ossetra, Russian: Ossirot) has eggs about 2 mm in size. Its grain shines silvery grey/black, has a somewhat harder shell and is not so sensitive.Its taste is very individual, somewhat nutty and thus differs significantly from other types of caviar.Osietra sturgeon lives in the Caspian and Black Seas and needs about 12- 14 years until spawning maturity. The Ossietra grows up to 2.5 m long and weighs up to 200 kg. The cans of Ossietra caviar are marked in yellow.
Sevruga caviar
Sevruga sturgeon caviar has very thin-skinned, tender eggs 2 mm in size that shimmer in all shades of grey. Lovers appreciate the strong, spicy aroma of Servruga caviar. With a length of only 1.5 m and a weight of up to 25 kg, the Sevruga is the smallest sturgeon among the caviar suppliers. It also lives in the Caspian and Black Seas, and the female begins producing eggs between the ages of 7 and 10. The cans of Sevruga caviar are marked red/orange.
Malossol
Malossol is not a type of caviar! The Russian word "malossol" means "little salt": only so much salt was added to the caviar during production that it has a limited shelf life. Only very little salt is used in the refinement of very high-quality caviar, so that the natural taste is largely retained. This quality is therefore rarely really black, because the light-colored, untreated sturgeon roe only becomes dark with salt. Malossol caviar has a maximum salt content of 2.8 to 4%.
