Where does caviar come from today?
While the majority of the world’s caviar is farmed in the Caspian Sea region of Iran, North America is also home to several farms. The most common varieties of fish used are sturgeon and paddlefish. The roe is collected manually from the fish’s underbelly after it’s been slaughtered. The roe is then cleaned and salted. If it passes strict quality tests, it’s sold as gourmet caviar.
Where can you find caviar today?
There are two types of fish from which caviar is made: sturgeon and salmon. Sturgeon are known for producing large amounts of roe. The best sturgeon roe is most often found in Russia, Iran, and China. Salmon roe is produced by fish in the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and South America. This fish is usually smaller than sturgeon roe and does not have as much of a distinctive taste.
Where to find caviar today?
Most of the world’s caviar is farmed in the Caspian Sea region of Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The fish are raised in large ponds (caviar farms), and in the wild, sturgeon are still caught and cured in the rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea. Commercial caviar farms have been around for thousands of years, but the species of sturgeon used for raising and harvesting have become endangered.
Where do caviar come from today?
Caspian Sea sturgeon is the most common species of domesticated fish used for caviar production. Also, Siberian roe deer and domestic goats are used for roe extraction. The roe is gathered when the fish spawn. It’s collected by hand and dried in nets. However, modern technology has made the roe harvesting process more efficient and less laborious.
What is caviar today?
Preserved sturgeon roe and fish eggs that are produced by the Russian breed of Asiatic sturgeon are the two kinds of caviar. The former is made from the salty roe that is formed in the ovaries when the fish reaches sexual maturity. It is cured in salt. The latter is simply fish eggs, sometimes called caviar, that are left over from the annual spawning of the fish. It is not cured in salt.