Tag

Oscietra Caviar

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TOAST!

We do sometimes discuss with customers what is the best medium on which to serve caviar: blinis or toast? Some find blinis rather on the soggy side of life and prefer the crunch of toast. We associate blinis with Russia, but many of the Russians that I speak to always take their caviar on toast. However, perhaps the question is not as simple as merely blinis v. toast. After all, there are many types of bread and many types of toast. I often see caviar being served with “French Toast”... Read More

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White Russian

The heading should really be White v. Russian, but I rather liked the way that it suggested a cocktail. If you are wondering what I am talking about, the answer is, of course, sturgeon. The White Sturgeon is also known as Transmontanus and the Russian Sturgeon is better known as Oscietra. Its scientific name is tricky to spell, so I will stick with Oscietra. But why am I putting them up against each other? There is no contest: Oscietra is the most wonderful caviar, and Transmontanus is not. I have... Read More

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You say Asetra, I say Oscietra………..

Looking around at various outlets, it can be rather confusing to identify real Oscietra Caviar. Now, that is the spelling that we use at Caspian Caviar, but various other spellings are also used. I have seen: Ossetra Caviar, Osetra Caviar as well as Asetra Caviar. What does it all mean? It is thought that Oscietra/Ossetra/Osetra/Asetra is derived from the Russian word OCETP, which simply means “Sturgeon”. I guess that the name “Sturgeon Sturgeon” would be pretty unsatisfactory. Oscietra Sturgeon does sound rather better, but it is also known as the... Read More

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OSCIETRA CAVIAR – AMBROSIA OR MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD?

OSCIETRA CAVIAR –AMBROSIA OR MIDDLE-OF-THE- ROAD? Traditionally, the UK caviar market consisted mainly of Beluga, Oscietra and Sevruga, which was priced in that order. Beluga came in red tins, the Oascietra in green and the Sevruga in red – a traditional colour scheme that we are still happy to follow. So should we view Oscietra caviar as the poor relation to Beluga, or as “Food for the Gods” in its own right? Oscietra caviar comes from the Oscietra sturgeon, latin name Acipenser Gueldenstaedtii, which I cant pronounce either. It is... Read More