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How To Make Caviar

Albertina Roca
  |   September 4, 2023   |  

You love eating caviar, but how much do you really know about making it? We delve into the world of this delicacy and explore how caviar is made. As luxurious and coveted as it is, seems deceptively easy to make: after all, you just need some fish eggs and some salt, right? It’s not that simple. While the ingredients might be simple, the methods of making caviar are not. Much like aging a fine cheese or selecting the best grapes for wine, there’s an art that goes beyond tossing a little salt on some fish eggs.

Beluga caviar fish in its natural habitat, photo by Gourmet Food Store

What is caviar made out of? Yes, you guessed it, fish eggs, which technically are called roe. The birth of this delicacy — almost literally- begins with the removal of the fish eggs (roe) from the sturgeon. One of the many reasons sturgeon populations have been in such sharp decline is that the most predominant method of caviar extraction from the sturgeon involves the actual killing of the fish (either before or after the removal of the egg sack). The roe is sieved and "filtered" into different sizes, and then carefully cleaned and rinsed. Classification takes place according to size and color and the caviar moves on to the salting step.

The purpose of salting is primarily to preserve the caviar and maintain as much of the 'fresh' flavor as possible. Therefore, the amount of salt used can vary. "Malossol” the most superior type- is prepared with very little salt. Other types can be salted. Although things have changed over the years, one thing remains true: the salt. A special kind of salt is used to prepare caviar, a chlorine-free salt from the Russian Astrakhan Steppe, stored for seven years to ensure the least chlorine content.

How to Make Caviar: Harvesting the Eggs

How caviar is harvested: the first step is fishing or harvesting a female sturgeon ripe with eggs (for a full definition of caviar, see our What is Caviar section). Caviar is made from the unfertilized eggs of the female sturgeon.

The sturgeon is harvested, which means it’s fished if it’s a wild fish, or harvested if it’s a farmed sturgeon. This is a highly sophisticated process that involves ultrasounds to check the quality and location of the eggs first, and to make sure they’re ready for extraction — sometimes a little sample is extracted with a small scalpel to test the eggs as well.

Once opened, all the eggs are surgically removed from the fish, which in most cases, kills the fish itself — worry not, most times the fish meat is also eaten, and nothing gets wasted! Initially, the eggs are clumped together so they go through a sieving or separation process, a time-consuming manual process. Then, on to cleaning. And here’s where the caviar master’s skill comes into play, as he or she carefully removes the membrane surrounding the eggs and separates them, gently and expertly, so the texture is preserved, and the eggs aren’t crushed. One by one, any damaged eggs are painstakingly removed, and the delicate eggs are then carefully strained and salted.

How to Make Caviar: Salting

Process of salting beluga caviar, photo by Gourmet Food Store

Fine caviar is always “malossol”, a Russian term for “little salt”. Salting preserves the fish eggs, extending its shelf life, but it also gives it a wonderful subtle flavor. Salting is a highly sophisticated manual skill acquired over time: too much salt and the delicate walls of the eggs break, too little of it, and it will spoil and the taste will be off. The highest quality caviar has a salt content of 3% (and sometimes even less). Salt is added to the eggs, left to impregnate, and then washed off. None of this is done by a machine, but by a person, an expert in this very specific process, and one of the most artisanal steps.

How to Make Caviar: Drying, Grading and Tinning

After salting, the eggs are dried over steel racks and then tested so they can be graded. The texture, color, glossiness, size, and many other factors are considered, which will determine the quality and the grade it will get. This is the final step before it is packaged in tins packed tightly with airtight lids and then sold.

How To Make Caviar with Molecular Gastronomy: Spherification

Chances are you’ve encountered a fun and colorful type of caviar in many modern restaurant dishes that are not made of fish eggs at all and are a product of molecular cooking. These are made using spherification, a molecular gastronomy technique of encasing an ingredient in a membrane. This innovative cooking process puts science into cooking, using chemistry and physics to create fun and unexpected shapes and flavors with food.

Molecular gastronomy caviar recipes with the use of this method are very popular and incredibly versatile. Spherification uses sodium alginate (a salt derived from algae) and calcium chloride to create a membrane around the liquid, encapsulating it and creating a small sphere that looks a lot like real caviar, bursting with flavor once you bite into it. Fruit juices, chocolate, cocktails, soups, sauces, and desserts are just a few of the fun and delicious things you can turn into "caviar" using molecular gastronomy.

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Author

Albertina Roca

Copywriter & Certified Cheese Addict

Meet Albertina, a seasoned food writing wordsmith and marketing creative split between the sizzling vibes of Miami and the charming streets of Buenos Aires. With a solid 20 years in the traditional and digital advertising world for the gourmet food industry, she’s mastered the art of making words as mouthwatering as the dishes they describe. She’s proudly been part of the Gourmet Food Store family (and its brands) since its very beginnings, and what a fun, flavor-packed journey it has been!

Highlights

Albertina's journey in copywriting is marked by a passion for creativity and a knack for connecting with audiences. Her expertise spans SEO-driven content that boosts visibility, engaging social media strategies that spark conversations, persuasive advertising campaigns that captivate, and heartfelt storytelling that resonates deeply.

Experience

With a diverse portfolio spanning numerous articles, blogs, and captivating content pieces, Albertina has left her mark on the industry. From informative guides to persuasive sales copy, her work not only informs but also inspires action.

Education and Background

Her journey began at Rutgers College, where she studied in History and Political Science, with a minor in English Lit. She honed her craft at The Miami Ad School in South Beach, where creativity and copy collided under the South Florida Sun. From the neon streets of South Beach to the tango beats of Buenos Aires, her pen dances with the rhythm of whatever gastronomic tales she gets to write at the time.

Currently savoring life in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she’s bilingual in English and Spanish, an avid reader, and cheese addict.

Her writing? Seasoned with creativity, spiced with experience, and garnished with a dash of wit.

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Questions and Answers

Q:How is caviar made?
A:It’s made by extracting eggs from different species of sturgeon fish. Caviar processing methods include washing, lightly salting, and then packing the eggs in airtight tins or glass jars.
Q:What kind of fish is caviar from?
A:It’s made from sturgeon fish like Osetra, Sevruga, Paddlefish, etc. We also call other types of fish eggs caviar, like Salmon, but this is usually known as roe.
Q:Which fish gives caviar?
A:Sturgeon! There are about 25 species of sturgeon. You can eat the eggs, known as roe, from other fish like Salmon, too.
Q:How does caviar come out of a fish?
A:Caviar is extracted by cutting out the egg sack, and then washing and sieving the eggs.
Q:Is caviar actually fish eggs?
A:Yes! Caviar is exactly fish eggs.
Q:How much caviar does sturgeon produce?
A:It depends on the species and the size of the actual fish. Beluga, the largest sturgeon, could yield up to?38 to 45 pounds?of roe. Osetra or sevruga, which are smaller, only produce about 3 1/2 to 5 pounds of roe.
Q:12/1/2019 great info on caviar about the salt type and ways to remove the salt. I plan to try to make salmon caviar using lake michigan salmon thanks
A:Thank you for your feedback. We are happy to find out the information presented is helpful.
Q:Thanks for this article! It helped me to do the note about making caviar (It was our homework in Russia, yeah...) Thanks so much!
A:Thank you as well. We are very happy that you found the information helpful.
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