Some people might think of it as just food. Others say they can’t live without it.
It dazzles, it confuses, but it always fashions a long-lasting impression. It is, of course, caviar!
Most people don’t dine on caviar to mollify their hunger, they consume it to be transported into another world. A world of fine traditions and moments of intense pleasure.
Caviar for these people is an impassioned love affair with life itself. It is poetry at the dinner table. An elixir full of love and an architect of romance. It transforms conversations and signifies elegance, beauty, grace and magic.
Protected for centuries by Russian and Iranian nobility, it thrills just about everyone in its presence. Eyes always widen with excitement at the mere mention of its name. But what made these diminutive black iridescent pearls become a symbol of sophistication, a certificate of success and the undisputed king of luxury food?
Revered since the days of Imperial Russia’s abundant harvests on the great Volga River, these seductive little beads which vibrate on the tongue like fishy champagne bubbles, come from only one species. They are the salt-cured eggs (or roe) of sturgeon. And only sturgeon.
Surveying the depths of subtropical, temperate and sub-Arctic rivers, lakes and coastlines for more than 250 million years, caviar producing sturgeon have long been among the most valuable of all wildlife resources.
But for modern epicureans who love sturgeon caviar, they can now indulge in this most elite of natural delicacies with a clear conscience. The pioneering development of farm-raised sturgeon has resulted in guilt-free caviar which is both rich in superfood nutrients and sustainable harvesting practices.
The history of caviar is the story of one of the most venerated and extraordinary foods that has ever been served on the tables of the rich and famous. And so it remains today. There is still no delicacy that enlightens the ambiance in a room and infuses it with anticipation and joy in the same way that caviar does.
