From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Caviar is the processed, salted roe of certain species of fish, most notably the sturgeon. It is commercially marketed worldwide as a delicacy and is principally eaten as either a garnish or a spread; for example, with hors d'œuvres.

The word caviar entered English from Turkish,^[1] but there are various purported etymologies of the word. While some claim that it was the Turkish who first generated the word khavyar, some say it derives from the Persian word خاگ‌آور (Xâg-âvar), meaning "the roe-generator"; others say chav-jar, which means "cake of power", a reference to the ancient Persian practice of eating caviar in stick form as a kind of elixir.^[2]

In Persian, the word refers to both the sturgeon and its roe; in Russian, the word икра (ikra), "hoe", is used. The Russian word "malossol" ("little salt") sometimes appears on caviar tins to show that the caviar is minimally salted; typically, caviar is 4–8 per cent salt, with the better-brand varieties generally being less salted.

Contemporary black caviar is roe from sturgeon fished from the Caspian Sea, by Azerbaijan, Iran, and Russia. The highest prices paid are for the Beluga, Ossetra, and Sevruga varieties. (The large-grained Beluga caviar is from the Beluga sturgeon, which is a fish and is unrelated to the Beluga whale, a mammal.) The rare, golden Sterlet caviar once was the favorite of czars, shahs, and emperors, but now that species is nearly extinct. Current, dwindling fishing yields, consequent to overfishing and pollution, have resulted in the creation of less costly, yet popular, caviar-quality roe alternatives from the whitefish and the North Atlantic salmon.

In the early 1900s, Canada and the United States were the major caviar suppliers to Europe; they harvested roe from the lake sturgeon in the North American midwest, and from the Shortnose sturgeon and the Atlantic sturgeon spawning in the rivers of the Eastern coast of the United States. Today, however, the Shortnose sturgeon is rated Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of endangered species and rated Endangered per the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Current aquaculture of sturgeon is an economically viable means of sustainable, commercial caviar production, especially in France, Uruguay, and California, in the United States.[1] Hackleback caviar is a popular, inexpensive product of this industry. Paddlefish, a sturgeon cousin, is also farmed in increasing numbers.

Recently, the amount of allowed wild fish harvesting has been decreased, consequently increasing caviar prices. In September 2005, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service banned the import of Caspian Sea Beluga caviar, to protect the endangered Beluga sturgeon; a month later, the ban included Beluga caviar from the entire Black Sea basin. In January 2006, CITES, the convention for trade in endangered species, announced they were "unable to approve the [caviar] export quotas" for 2006 from wild fish stocks.[2] In January 2007, this ban was partly lifted, allowing the sale of 96 tons of caviar, 15 per cent below the official 2005 level.[3]

Given its high price in the West, caviar is synonymous with luxury and wealth. In Russia and other Eastern cultures, though still expensive, caviar is commonly served at holiday feasts, weddings, and other festive occasions.

Caviar is usually served either with horn, wood, or gold utensils (mother-of-pearl and plastic, too), instead of silver or steel (both carbon and stainless), which alter caviar's taste and color.

Commercial caviar production normally requires stunning the fish (usually by clubbing at the head) and extracting the ovaries; some commercial fish farmers are experimenting with surgically removing roe from living sturgeon, allowing the females to continue producing more roe during their lives.

In the vegetarian foodstuffs market, soy-based imitation caviar is produced and sold as a caviar alternative. Culturally, caviar is generally not eaten by Jews, because the sturgeon lacks scales, and thus is not kosher; however, this does not apply to every roe-yielding fish species.

In Scandinavia, a significantly cheaper version of caviar, made from smoked cod roe, is sold in tubes as a sandwich filling. Caviars from the burbot, the vendace, and the common whitefish are available in Finland, in their natural form, as an alternative to sturgeon caviar. Some gourmets regard burbot caviar as a delicacy outranking Beluga caviar in taste and flavour, at a fraction of the price. Mostly it will cost around £799.99 per 100g of pure caviar.

1. ^ Merriam-Webster Online - Caviar entry
2. ^ LEDA at Harvard Law School - A Brief History of Caviar

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