Curious about Caviar

Hi folks!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and a Happy New Year ahead. With 2008 descending upon us, one of my more manageable New Year resolutions is to try a new food at least every other week. Also, I just got a mini bonus and am looking to spend it.

So, one of the assignments for this resolution is to try caviar. I've never had caviar before and am really curious. Do you know of any places that serve good caviar with blinis? Ciao!

Hi,

Call me cheap. CAll me practical. Or just call me!

Given the retail price of caviar, I would rather buy caviar, make the blini and stuff myself silly!

While the black sturgeon caviar is the pricey stuff. You can buy some good quality red salmon caviar at shops catering to Eastern Europeans for $25 per pound or less. The Garden Fresh Market in Northbrook offers three different qualities from $15, $19 and $25 per pound.

Don't overlook domestic caviars with Collins Caviar a very local producer.

Do let us know what you ultimately do.

Regards,

Being an indiscriminate lover of eggs of all kinds, I found that you can get samplers from the Internet on Amazon.com. I haven't actually tried these yet, but you can get 1oz jars at very reasonable prices. Like Cathy said, at European markets like Marketplace on Oakton they have very reasonably priced red salmon caviar that's very good - they also carry the very expensive caviars there in a small locked fridge near the checkout line.

If you're looking to expand your horizons with other fish eggs, Asian markets sell or Masago (Sweetfish or Smelt Roe - cheap, but a bit sweet for me), Tobiko (Capelin or Flying Fish) roe (commonly used on California Rolls and available tinted or flavored with wasabi) Of course, there is the roe of the sea urchin, or uni - probably best tried at a sushi bar. I haven't yet tried whole roes of pollack, which I've seen frozen at H-Mart. (Can you tell I'm somewhat excited about this subject?)

Carp Roe is used for the Greek dish Tarmosalata (tried some straight from the jar the other day - it tastes metallic and really needs the full preparation) Cheap lumpfish caviars at the grocery store are usually so heavily processed that you can't taste anything but salt, and the dye leaches out into whatever you put it on. On the flip side, whitefish caviars aren't that expensive and can be pretty good.

If you want to go out for caviar, we did have what I believe was red caviar at Sh. Rustavelli's, but they are notorious for erratic hours and menu.

Please post and let us know when you've discharged your resolution!

Russian Tea Time has crepes with smoked salmon and salmon caviar, and salmon caviar is also part of their seafood platter -- you can see their full menu on their website:
http://www.russianteatime.com/

Russian Tea Time
77 E Adams
Chicago
312 360-0000

HI,

MHays is right about lumpfish caviar. It will completely turn you off on the notion of caviar.

Most, if not all, Russian restaurants will have caviar. However as I stated before, you will get more bang for your buck buying it yourself and making blini, which is very simple.

For the salmon caviar, I buy Borodinsky bread, butter it and add the salmon caviar:



Sturgeon caviar can also be served on white bread or at least they did in Moscow.

Collin's Caviar is not exactly economical alternative. They use eggs from American caught fish, then process it like caviar.

Regards,

Cathy, could you share your blini recipe? I'll have to try making it someday. Where do you get the flour?

I like the idea of a flavorful brown bread with caviar; we'll have to try that - this morning (we had guests) we offered red caviar as a bagel topping along with the standard lox; it was delicious. IIRC Joy of Cooking suggests tostones as an alternative to blini. This is another approach I'd like to try; in a similar vein, our friends offer caviar with their latkes during Hanukkah and that was superb.

just as an aside, america is the only nation in the world in which fish roes other than that from the sturgeon are referred to as 'caviar'.

the rest of the world makes the distinction between caviar--the cured roe from a sturgeon--and other fish roes.

all the various salmon roes, whitefish, tobikkos, and the like are not, to my mind, caviar.

now, that being said, there are certainly some less expensive alternatives that are quite nice. sterling markets american paddlefish roe that is cured similarly to sturgeon caviar that is quite good.

elakin wrote:just as an aside, america is the only nation in the world in which fish roes other than that from the sturgeon are referred to as 'caviar'.

True, and certainly the other roes each have their own personality and uses, and can be as different from each other as each of the mother fish's meat would be (e.g. salmon, smelt, whitefish, and sturgeon)

However, this is a bit like the argument that the only true Champagne comes from a single region of France - yes, but that won't stop me from enjoying Prosecco, especially if my wallet so indicates. The key is to avoid the patently vile substitutes that, as Cathy says, will turn anyone off of fish eggs.

oh, i agree. totally.

nothing wrong with salmon roe, or tobikko, or smoked whitefish. they're all quite tasty.

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

Collin's Caviar is not exactly economical alternative. They use eggs from American caught fish, then process it like caviar.

Regards,

But it's still cheaper than eating it in a restaurant. Plus they do have American sturgeon caviar that is really wonderful. Both the hackleback sturgeon and paddlefish (related to sturgeon) caviars from Collins are excellent.

http://www.collinscaviar.com/

A good source of a wide range of true caviars, from Russian to Collins's, check out http://www.mackenzieltd.com/mackenzie/C ... are_2.html

Mhays wrote: Of course, there is the roe of the sea urchin, or uni - probably best tried at a sushi bar.

Actually, I believe that "uni" is the gonads of the sea urchin (the organs that make the roe).

YoYoPedro wrote:Actually, I believe that "uni" is the gonads of the sea urchin (the organs that make the roe).

While true semantically, this is pertinent only because the hermaphroditic sea urchin can't decide which side of the fence it's on (e.g. you technically could be eating either milt or roe, or preseumably something in between.)

Whole roes (such as you find of shad or pollack) are the same organ of a female fish, from which caviar is harvested:

"The ovaries of the fish are beaten to loosen the eggs, which are then freed from fat and membrane by being passed through a sieve. The liquid is pressed off, and the eggs are mildly salted and sealed in small tins or kegs."

Three Sisters Delicatessen on Devon usually has a good deal on unpacked caviar around this time of year. When I purchased it, they spooned it out of a big, white container, so some berries (eggs) were crushed. They also said it was Russian, but that's highly unlikely. Still, for the price, for a non-connoisseur trying to get a taste, it's not a bad place to get inexpensive "caviar."

I second the recommendation for American hackleback or paddlefish--Collins is an excellent producer/packer of American caviar.

If you're unfamiliar or leery about fish eggs, I wouldn't jump on salmon roe out of the gate. The eggs can be too big, salty and fishy for a newbie.

Mitsuwa in Arlington Heights usually has two or three types of good tobikko (flying fish roe), flavored (wasabi, ginger) for next-to-nothing.

Fox & Obel, Dirk's and The Fish Guy Market also carry small tins of caviar.

If you're trying it at home (by far the least expensive route, if that's important), try a bit plain, then pile it on top of blini slathered with creme fraiche. Tasty.

Important things to remember: don't buy "shelf stable" caviar. If it's in a jar in one of those Christmas baskets, it's probably inedible -- or, rather, will be somewhat like very salty fish paste.

Look for the word "molossol," which means lightly salted. This will only appear in refrigerated or frozen caviar.

And if this is the first time you've ever tried caviar, spend a little money and get something good, such as the Collins hackleback or paddlefish. You might as well form an opinion about caviar eating good caviar. Eating cheap trash to try to find out about caviar is like trying to imagine a steak by chewing on a bouillon cube.

And if you'd like a little background, information on grading and types, as well as tips on how to consume caviar, here's an article I did a while back that might help elucidate the topic for you.

http://www.hungrymag.com/2006/09/25/a-r ... ther-name/

Nobody's mention sole roe -- I've had this a couple places (Dover Straits, for one), and it's delicious as part of the preparation of a female sole.

Cooked, though, not salted or otherwise cured.

Hi,

In Moscow years ago, my friend Lilya show me a trick to make canned salmon roe more appealing. She emptied the eggs into a large clean jar, added water, screwed on the lid and gently shook it. It might take several changes of water to reduce the salt and effectively rehydrate the eggs. She then added salt to her taste.

In this thread on Caviar - storage and recommendations, there are several sources on where to buy via the internet.

Lilya and her then husband Fedor were one of those who struck it rich after the Soviet Union dissolved. Ironically, they were once the poorest people I was acquainted with before the changes. I visited them once to find a liter jar of sturgeon caviar in their refrigerator. She made me an open face sandwich from this jar that was literally dripping caviar. I wished I was taking pictures of my food back then, because even I have a hard time believing this occasion.

MHays - there are two kinds of blinis: yeast risen and those using a baking powder or baking soda. I personally favor the yeast risen. I have never made them with buckwheat flour like you see many recipes here. During the Soviet times, I never saw anyone use anything other than general purpose flour. During the USSR, many pre-revolution cookbooks were regarded like fantastic myths largely because many ingredients simply were unattainable. I can still provide recipes, though it will be tomorrow ... or later today!

Regards,

Hi,

Yesterday I celebrated New Years a little early with my friend Helen by lunching on soup noodles at Mitsuwa. They offer salmon caviar on rice as a stand alone offering (~$3.25) or part of a meal package (~$8 ).



The salmon eggs have been rinsed and hydrated, thus they do not stick together like freshly purchased salmon eggs. It is cheap, generous and easy way to find if you like this type of caviar.

Mitsuwa Marketplace
100 E. Algonquin Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(847) 956-6699

Regards,

But it's still cheaper than eating it in a restaurant. Plus they do have American sturgeon caviar that is really wonderful. Both the hackleback sturgeon and paddlefish (related to sturgeon) caviars from Collins are excellent.

Fully agreed. The American sturgeon caviar is absolutely excellent. Dirk's doesn't carry it regularly, but they can get it for you if you order in advance.

I absolutely agree that blini, creme fraiche and caviar are a great way to experience caviar. My son even loves blini, having eaten a blini and cream cheese sandwich yesterday (no caviar though). Making them isn't hard, but it's not really simple either. An excellent recipe is found in Rose Levy Bernbaum's Cake Bible, a recipe that originated with Sally Darr of NYC's La Tulipe. It is a yeast-risen, buckwheat flour recipe, which involves several hours of rising - an investment of time, not so much of effort. I tried the Barefoot Contessa's recipe a few years back (one that took less time), and it just didn't have the same oomph. The only difficult thing about making blini is getting the pan to just the right temperature. I own a very well-seasoned pleka pan (Swedish pancake pan with circular indentations), which is perfect for making blinis. It's cheap and it won't work perfectly until after a few uses, but once it does, it's an invaluable once-a-year tool. I've bought my buckwheat flour from Whole Foods having just exhausted the wonderful bag of flour purchased from grain farmer that no longer comes to the Green City Market (such an incredible loss).

While it isn't caviar, I'd strongly recommend a trip to the Violet Hour for the wasabi tobiko (flying fish roe) over creme fraiche served on a blini. You would also have the added benefit of doing no work, and being served some amazingly tasty cocktails.

I think real caviar is prohibitively expensive these days. I did have some pressed caviar served in a fingerling potato with creme fraiche on New Year's Eve and it was pretty tasty.

I used to buy American Sturgeon roe at Dirks, but some time ago they changed from fresh to frozen roe. There might have been a change in providers too. I used it twice more, but it is now off of my ingredient list.

Another non-caviar product that's pretty cool is Cavi-Art. Caviar made from seaweed. I used it at an event I did for The Kids Table, where all of the hors d'oeuvres were inspired by kids food. I used two different colored Cavi-Arts as veggie sprinkles on smoked salmon ice cream cones.

Cathy2 wrote:While the black sturgeon caviar is the pricey stuff. You can buy some good quality red salmon caviar at shops catering to Eastern Europeans for $25 per pound or less. The Garden Fresh Market in Northbrook offers three different qualities from $15, $19 and $25 per pound.

Cathy, which one of the three do you prefer?

I like red salmon caviar very simply - on plain white bread. I do the same with teramisalata.

Happy New Year, all! And thank you so much for all your suggestions I've kept my New Year resolution for the first 2 weeks because I've finally tried caviar! A friend of mine heard about this project of mine and decided to get me some caviar as a Christmas present. Isn't he the best?


I figured that since I was going to pursue such a luxury, I had to do it right. Upon more research, classically, caviar is served with a touch of creme fraiche on blini, which is a yeast-raised buckwheat pancake. I found this recipe on Epicurious and substituted some ingredients with whatever I had in my pantry. We started by mixing the yeast with warm water and sugar before letting it stand for 5 minutes until foamy, just to ensure that this dear eukaryotic microorganisms are still alive and well.


Then, the flours, salt, milk, eggs and butter were added to yield a thin batter that looks like this.


The batter was covered with plastic wrap and left to raise for about 2 hours, after which it looked a lot livelier and doughier, which was pretty darn cool! I've never made yeast-raised pancakes before and at this point, I wasn't really sure whether this was what it was supposed to look like, but I went ahead with it anyway.


For this purpose, I heated my nonstick skillet and sprayed it with some canola oil before spooning one tablespoon of the batter onto the skillet for each pancake or blin.


Like making normal pancakes, we wait until the bubbles have populated the surface before turning it and continue to cook until the blinis are browned on both sides. I found that about 1-2 minutes on each side sufficed.


The blinis turned out beautifully fluffy and light. The buckwheat flour, I think, adds a faint nutty flavor to it, which I liked. It was pretty darn good by itself, though a tad bland. It is so fluffy that I think I'm a buckwheat flour convert when it comes to pancakes. I might just start making yeast-raised pancakes too!

So, back to the highlight of this project, the caviar. Due to the unavailability of creme fraiche at my neighbourhood grocery store, I resorted to fat-free sour cream (my generous friend has a health condition that almost bans fat in his diet). Topped with a teaspoonful of sour cream, the blinis are ready for the star of the show. We then spooned a bit of the caviar onto each blini. Doesn't it look beautiful?


I must say that even though I've never had caviar before, the taste is very familiar. It's not terribly fishy, as I expected it to be, but it quite salty, which was definitely brought out by the (relative) blandness of sour cream and blinis. Many told me that superior caviars are in fact, not very salty. Good caviars contain less than 4% salt. It has a yummy crunchiness and I like that the flavor just invades the whole mouth once I bit into these dark, luxurious orbs. Served with a flute of chilled cava, it was the perfect New Year's Eve treat.


At the end of the day, it was rather interesting. I wouldn't mind trying out the better sturgeon caviars that aren't as salty, but I'm not going to go out of my way to seek out the best caviar. After all, it isn't really within my humble budget. However, I loved loved loved the blinis. Even though I used skim milk instead of whole milk in the batter, these blinis were totally awesome! I think using whole milk might have made it richer. Those yeast-raised buckwheat pancakes were so good, even with my minor ingredient adjustments. I will definitely make the blinis again. Any ideas what would make a nice topping for this nutty, fluffy pancake?

Congratulations! And how nice that a friend helped you with that resolution.

Your blinis look great. Thanks for the photos.

And the fact that the caviar can states that refrigeration is required shows that you had a somewhat lower-salt caviar. The really crummy caviars are so heavily salted they don't need refrigerations.

eggplant wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:While the black sturgeon caviar is the pricey stuff. You can buy some good quality red salmon caviar at shops catering to Eastern Europeans for $25 per pound or less. The Garden Fresh Market in Northbrook offers three different qualities from $15, $19 and $25 per pound.

Cathy, which one of the three do you prefer?

I like red salmon caviar very simply - on plain white bread. I do the same with teramisalata.

I am cute. I ask for a sample each time to see which one I like better. This is not a uniform product, so there are differences from batch to batch. I've only bought the $25/lb when it was the only one available. I usually buy no more than 1/4 pound at Garden Fresh in Northbrook, which is enough for several open faced sandwiches. I'd be interested in your opinion.

Some years ago, there seemed to be an artificial salmon caviar on the market. The eggs were a lot bigger without an even roundness, they just seemed like globs. I never really understood what it was.

Do you make your own teramisalata? I've tried several times without anything approaching what I liked in a restaurant. If you purchase your teramisalata, then what is your favored vendor?

Regards,

After receiving a good year end bonus a couple of years ago we decided to ring in the New Year with some Caviar as niether my wife nor I had tried it before. I ordered 2 sample tins from Petrossian I don't remember what we had exactly but it was in the $150/oz. range. Lucky we did not care for it. Which makes me wonder what caviar@ $25/lb. might taste like.

Marshall K wrote: I ordered 2 sample tins from Petrossian I don't remember what we had exactly but it was in the $150/oz. range. Lucky we did not care for it.

I wish I could say that I didn't like the good stuff, but there's nothing in the world like top quality beluga, sevruga or ossetra caviar.

Back in the mid-eighties, I was Dean Fearing's banquet chef at Dallas' Mansion on Turtle Creek, where we did a limited seating dinner for 50 lucky people featuring Petrossian smoked salmon, foie gras products, and of course, their caviar. The meal consisted of beluga, sevruga and ossetra and toast points, smoked salmon, and then foie gras, concluded with a small salad, a few lamb chops, and then the house creme brulee.

Christian Petrossian was the dinner's guest speaker. He shipped in 10 one kilo cans of his best caviar and 50 gold caviar spoons for the evening. When he arrived that afternoon, he asked to see the caviar, so we brought them out and opened each tin. Based on sight alone, he decided which cans of each type of caviar were of the highest quality and instructed me to use those cans first, and to only use the remaining cans if necessary.

Each guest began with the 90 gram portion, and unlimited refills. He was quite adamant about how his caviar was to be served, which was with fresh toast points only. Absolutely no onion, egg, or sour cream.

I consumed eight ounces myself that night, while standing in the walk in with our Executive Sous Chef, which we ate with plastic spoons like kids eating cereal on Saturday morning. Boy, was I thirsty by the time I got home.

I still have those beautiful cans. Wouldn't yo know it, only 48 gold spoons were recovered after the meal. Cost of doing business I guess.

heh. nice story.

i have similar memories of debauchery from when i worked at Tru, during the opening. we were bringing in 1-kilo tins of petrossian and we'd go through a couple every day. it was, of course, our professional responsibility to ensure that the product was of the highest quality and we didn't mind at all using gale gand's hot brioche toasts and creme fraiche from vermont butter and cheese company to do it.

i came to like the ossetra the best for it's earthy musty nuttiness.

here's a fun page to look at. this is the best and most expensive caviar in the world;

http://www.petrossian.fr/petrossian/index.php?file=category/category&cid=2



oh, and those are some nice looking blinis you whipped up there, maria!

Cathy2 wrote:

eggplant wrote:
Cathy, which one of the three do you prefer?

I like red salmon caviar very simply - on plain white bread. I do the same with teramisalata.

I am cute. I ask for a sample each time to see which one I like better. This is not a uniform product, so there are differences from batch to batch. I've only bought the $25/lb when it was the only one available. I usually buy no more than 1/4 pound at Garden Fresh in Northbrook, which is enough for several open faced sandwiches. I'd be interested in your opinion.

Some years ago, there seemed to be an artificial salmon caviar on the market. The eggs were a lot bigger without an even roundness, they just seemed like globs. I never really understood what it was.

Do you make your own teramisalata? I've tried several times without anything approaching what I liked in a restaurant. If you purchase your teramisalata, then what is your favored vendor?

Cathy,

Thanks for the tip! I will let you know what I think once I try it.

I usually buy the Krinos brand teramisalata. I forgot to mention in the post above that I serve it with cucumbers on the side. Cucumber adds a nice crunch and a very fresh taste to the bread/teramisalata combination.

I don't remember seeing other teramisalata brands at stores. Have you tried brands other than Krinos?

Ressurecting this old thread for a couple of reasons. One - my almost-7-year-old has expressed a desire to try caviar. Two- I found this thread valuable and interesting.

I know I could purchase caviar and make blini, etc.. at home for a somewhat reasonable price. I could also take my daughter to Russian Tea Time and have the full experience for about $200 (includes parking, beverages, tip, etc...). I am wondering if there is an in-between? An restaurant city or suburbs that offers a taste at a reasonable price?

This whole quest was kicked off by my daughter seeing an on-line photo of a deep-fried crab topped with salmon roe that she found fascinating. When I explained to her what fish roe/caviar was, she became concerned that if she ate it little fish would grow inside her. I brought up the fact that she eats chicken eggs regularly and there are no little chickens growing inside her. That worked, and she is ready to try some fish eggs!

Any suggestions appreciated.

Hi,

At Mitsuwa's food court, the raman stand offers rice with a generous amount of red salmon roe. You can have this as a stand alone item or as part of ramen meal. Depending on soup portion, it may be $9-$12. Rice and roe is maybe less than $5.

I think the red salmon is a good entry level to caviar. It has those large eggs that offer a satisfying pop as you chew. If she really likes it, then graduate to others.

My then 13-year-old sister felt her life was incomplete by not yet having had caviar. When I brought her the good stuff, she didn't like it. She's been a vegetarian since high school and may not like my reminding her of this occasion.

Let us know the outcome.

Regards,
Cathy2