CAVIAR

:''Distinguish from Kavya, which is an Indian name and a Sanskrit literary style.''

'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 eaten as a garnish or a spread; for example, with hors d'œuvres.

Contents

Etymology

Varieties

Ecology

Production

Alternatives and imitation

Cultural

References

Gallery

External links

Etymology

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''), "roe", 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% to 8% salt, with the better-brand varieties generally being less salted.

Varieties

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

Ecology

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.
In Spain a fish farm called Caviar de Riofrio has begun to produce organic caviar. The company raises sturgeon in such a way that it has earned organic certification by CITES.^[3]
Current aquaculture of sturgeon is an economically viable means of sustainable, commercial caviar production, especially in Spain, France, Uruguay, and California.^[4] 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.^[5] In January 2007, this ban was partly lifted, allowing the sale of 96 tons of caviar, 15% below the official 2005 level.^[6]

Production

Caviar is traditionally served with horn, wood, gold, nacre, or plastic utensils. [1] Commercial caviar production normally needs stunning the fish (usually by clubbing its 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.

Alternatives and imitation

In Scandinavia, a significantly cheaper version of caviar, made from smoked cod roe, is sold in tubes as a sandwich filling. Black and red colored lumpsucker caviars are sold in small glass jars to make a tasty and cheap replacement for sturgeon caviar. 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. The retail price of burbot caviar in Finland is about 30 €/kg.. In the vegetarian foodstuffs market, soy-based imitation caviar is produced and sold as a caviar alternative.

Cultural

Given its high price in the West, caviar is synonymous with luxury and wealth. In Russia and other Eastern European cultures, though still expensive, caviar is commonly served at holiday feasts, weddings, and other festive occasions. Sturgeon-derived caviar is generally not eaten by Jews who keep kosher, because sturgeon lacks scales and thus is not considered kosher; however, this does not apply to every roe-yielding fish species.

References

1. Merriam-Webster Online - Caviar entry
2. LEDA at Harvard Law School - A Brief History of Caviar
3. www.boston.com - More than one fish egg in the sea
4. California Farm Bureau Federation - Farmers tame prehistoric fish to make food fit for a king
5. news.bbc.co.uk - International caviar trade banned
6. news.bbc.co.uk - UN lifts embargo on caviar trade

Gallery

External links

★ Cooking For Engineers: Caviar

★ Stolt Sea Farm

★ California Caviar - a story on Sterling Caviar's business

★ Sturgeon population in Hudson River - Once-Endangered Sturgeon Rebounding in Hudson River, Study Says