Caviar is the roe of large sturgeons, originally mainly of Russian origin, though the word comes from the Turkish word for fish eggs. The highest quality is now produced in Iran, with some even coming from the Mediterranean. The main types are
Almas is the rarest type of caviar in the world. It is pale amber in colour and is taken from sturgeon aged 60-80 years old. In 2003 it was selling for £25,000 for a tin weighing 1.8 kg.
Beluga: One of the main types of caviar. It is light grey to coal-black caviar from the roe of the female beluga or white sturgeon, the largest of the family. It is the largest grained and most expensive of the caviars.
Imperial caviar is one of the rarest of caviars from the Caspian sea, Imperial caviar is the roe of the Oscietre karaburun sturgeon. The grains are large and golden, with a spiced, nutty flavour.
Malossol caviar is Russian for "lightly salted caviar". All types of caviar can be prepared "malossol".
Mandarin caviar comes from Chinese white sturgeon.
Oscietre: with large dazzling ash-grey pearls of caviar from the Caspian and Black Sea.
Pausnaya caviar is pressed caviar made from damaged roe or roe which is too small for the finer grades, just as caviar pressé in France is made from damaged eggs, salted and pressed.
Sevruga: smaller darker grained;
Sterlet is the legendary "golden" caviar of the Tsars, now rare as it comes from the sterlet or sterlyad, which is small and almost extinct;
Ship caviar is made from the roe of a hybrid cross between sevruga and oscietra sturgeon. It is very firm, good quality caviar but uncommon.
Caviar is also produced in Bordelais from sturgeon caught in the Gironde.
Grains of caviar can vary in colour from black to white and to golden-brown, but colours are never mixed. Caviar should be processed from the fish within 2 hours and eaten within 3 days, after which the flavour coarsens. It should be served on a glass dish on crushed ice with toast, butter and lemon. One of the main types of caviar. It is light grey to coal-black caviar from the roe of the female beluga or white sturgeon, the largest of the family. It is the largest grained and most expensive of the caviars.
