Properties of sturgeon caviar
Sturgeon is one of the most useful gourmet foods. This quality also extends to caviar. On average, it contains 30-35% easily digestible protein and 10-15% healthy fats, which break down much faster than animals.
Producers distinguish the main types of fish caviar of this family: sturgeon, star sturgeon, beluga, sterlet. For the most part, it is considered black. Although a real and very expensive miracle is white or gold – obtained from an albino beluga.
Sturgeon caviar is the most common type of this product. It is slightly cheaper than beluga caviar and has much more gourmet taste. It is obtained mainly by “milking” females on special farms.
In order not to make a mistake in choosing a female, you need to be able to tell her apart from a male, who has a larger body, more pronounced spines on his back, and a whitish spot on his head that is clearly visible. In a woman without caviar, the lower part – the abdomen – is flat and dense. In pregnant fish, it is swollen and soft.
Habitat
The sturgeon is an anadromous or semi-anadromous predatory fish of the sturgeon family. Lives in the Caspian, Baltic, Black and Azov seas. Spawns in adjacent rivers.
Unfortunately, wild sturgeons are now an endangered species. While scientists are trying to restore the number of free-living individuals in natural reservoirs, producers are breeding them in man-made tanks.
They can be built in natural dams along the banks of reservoirs. Another option is completely “home” conditions with special tanks and cleaning systems. At the same time, neither the quality of the meat nor the composition and taste of the caviar suffer from this.
Age of sturgeon for caviar
When planning sturgeon farming, entrepreneurs take into account how many years they will have to wait for the first caviar sampling. This process is slow. Males reach sexual maturity at the age of 8-13 years. Females – aged 8-15 years. Scientists have calculated the average years in which females spawn. These are 15, 20, 22, 24 years old.
To understand what year the fish has caviar and how often it throws it, it is important to know the variety of sturgeon. Caviar matures fastest in the sterlet – from the age of seven, it produces caviar every year. The female sturgeon gives birth to the first offspring at the age of 15 and spawns once every 2-3 years. Beluga, on the other hand, becomes ripe for fertilization only at the age of 20, and caviar can be obtained from it every 3-5 years.
Caviar color
Sturgeon caviar is considered black, although this characteristic is very generalized. It is mainly a dark olive color, it can be yellow, bronze, greenish and brown. The darkest caviar of the star sturgeon is smoky black. And the albino beluga gives a person a special caviar, white. Its color is unusual – milky with golden splashes in the shell.
Taste of sturgeon caviar
Depending on the type of fish, the taste of sturgeon caviar is slightly different:
- If it’s sturgeon, then dark olive eggs will burst in your mouth and taste of the sea and seaweed.
- Beluga is more tender, its balls literally melt in your mouth, and it has a special taste – nutty.
- Sevruzhya is small and tough. The taste of eggs is similar to beluga, but there is no characteristic tenderness and softness.