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Ossetra Caviar

Caspian Oscietra v. Black Oscietra

“Black Oscietra” sounds like some dark Knight from Transylvania during the Dark Ages, but I do in fact refer to Oscietra from the Black Sea, or at least originally from the Black Sea. I will explain. I recently went on a tasting tour which took me a long way east. So far east in fact, that I ended up in a place which still thought that it was part of the USSR, but that is another story. One of the most interesting aspects of the tasting visit was the fact... 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