Black Caviar

Black caviar is a broad term: there is no ONE type of black caviar. Many fish produce edible black eggs which are consumed, but first and foremost, the word caviar should only be used, technically, to the eggs of sturgeon fish, which include Beluga, Osetra, Sevruga, Amur, and Paddlefish. Eggs from any other type of fish are called roe. This definition is often ignored for the sake of practicality, as people recognize caviar as simply fish eggs, that you eat, from any type of fish.

Black caviar then is just the black colored eggs from fish, however, fish eggs or caviar eggs, are not usually a solid color. Sturgeon produces caviar in a variety of colors, from dark black, to steel grey, golden and even glistening green. However, “black caviar” is meant as a definition for all sturgeon caviar, the most premium of all being beluga caviar, which does not have a frank black color, but rather a dark grey. Osetra, White Sturgeon, and Sevruga are also types of black caviar, even though the eggs are not black in color.

Sturgeon harvested for caviar has been found roaming the Caspian and Black Seas for centuries – sturgeon is an ancient, prehistoric fish. Although caviar was popular with the Persians and even as far back as the ancient Greece, it became synonymous with luxury during the times of the Russian Czars, and since then, Caspian Sea black caviar has been one of the most widely sought-after gourmet delicacies in the world. This led to centuries of overfishing, where the black caviar sturgeon was fished almost to extinction. Wild-caught caviar is now very scarce, and the sturgeon was driven close to extinction. To save the species while continuing to supply the market with high quality black caviar, the production was moved to aqua farms.

After it’s heyday as the world’s most luxurious food, especially during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the supply of black caviar started to dwindle. It was then that farm-raised black caviar started appearing in the market, with sturgeon aqua farms popping up around the world. From Israel to Italy, caviar farms become the most sustainable sources of black caviar for sale, giving the wild sturg eon populations time to recover.

Farm raised caviar is hailed for its quality, with a consistency in flavor and texture that’s often found superior to wild harvested. Farmed caviar comes from the same sturgeon species found in the Caspian Sea, only the fish are carefully raised in aquaculture farms, in supervised ponds of freshwater, each step of the process controlled.

The price of black caviar varies wildly – there are very inexpensive black colored caviars from lumpfish and bowfin, for example, used in sushi, which are very affordable and are usually used as garnish.

The other end of the spectrum, the most expensive black caviars like Beluga and Osetra, are one of the most expensive foods in the world. Caviar costs also fluctuate with supply and demand, so the more available black caviar will cost less than the rarer kind of roe. The ultimate black caviar, the most luxurious kinds, are sold at a premium.

At Gourmet Food Store we have over 20 years of experience in selling black caviar online. We were one of the first online caviar retailers in the market, and only source our caviar from the most reputable purveyors in the world. We take pride in our shipping process, with specialty packaging and ample ice packs, which ensures you can buy black caviar with confidence knowing it will arrive at your doorstep in pristine condition.