E AT & D R I N K
TABLE TALK
Caviar: A Delicacy for Everyone? These succulent fish eggs aren’t just for the 1 percent anymore Written by CHRISTIE GALEANO-DEMOTT
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aviar has long been associated with wealth, elegant soirées and an effervescent je ne sais quoi. But these days, do you have to be part of the well-heeled to relish one of the sea’s most sought-after tidbits? Absolutely not. We sat down with two local caviar connoisseurs to find out their best tips for buying and enjoying caviar.
Alexandria Guerra
@caviarchronicles “I love it so much,”Alexandria Guerra exclaims.“It’s a celebration, it’s sexy, it’s luxurious.”As a South Florida-based culinary publicist and freelance food writer, Guerra’s knowledge of caviar is extensive. She’s been a fan for decades. Her first encounter with the salty treat was as a child at one of her parents’ fashionable parties, where she sneaked out of her room into the kitchen and found a large tin of the onyx eggs on the counter. From that first taste, she was enamored with its salty, buttery flavors and, since then, has always celebrated life’s milestones with a tin. So, what are her favorite pairings and tips for maximizing your caviar experience? FOOD & DRINK PAIRINGS It might sound cliché, but caviar and Champagne are a perfect pairing thanks to the wine’s crispness and the caviar’s buttery and salty notes. She suggests a Blanc de Blancs. If you’re looking for non-bubbly options, choose a Chablis wine or a refreshing Hendricks cucumber martini. As for what to eat it with, Guerra jests that ideally, she’ll eat it out of the tin by itself but also suggests eggs—like deviled eggs or soft scrambled eggs or oysters, especially atop a fruity Kumamoto. Also, try it with any potato rendition, from potato chips to tater tots. CHOOSING CAVIAR While caviar can be expensive (a few grams of beluga can run in the thousands), these days there are plenty of quality caviars at reasonable prices thanks to the uptick in sustainable farms. Choose by look and smell: It must be bright in color, have salty aromas and not be mushy, and the beads should be consistent in size.
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Color and size vary depending on which fish it’s from. Beluga is larger with a sweet, nutty flavor, whereas Osetra is creamy, and Sevruga has a robust, crisp taste. There are also hybrid options when two species are crossbred. FAVORITE BRANDS Splurge: Petrossian Intermediate: Marky’s Beginner: Sasanian CAVIAR TRENDS Caviar butter: It’s a delicious way to incorporate caviar into everyday dishes like pasta, for example. We’ve heard of caviar bumps (where you lick off a dollop from your fist), but for a livelier social option, host a“flight party” and have everyone bring a different tin to try.
Maribel Alvarez
@altimacaviar “It’s such a delicate and sensual experience,”says Maribel Alvarez. A veteran Palm Beach entrepreneur with decades of experience representing luxury companies, Alvarez launched her own brand, Altima Caviar, in 2022. She attributes caviar’s recent resurgence to the rise of sturgeon farms. At Altima Caviar, Alvarez prides herself on traveling from Italy to Israel to visit each farm she sources from. She then creates personal relationships with the owners, learning their practices and only choosing the best varieties from their production. There may be a ritual to eating caviar, but there’s also an art form to breeding sturgeons that take a minimum of seven years to reach maturity and can grow to be more than 20 feet long and up to 2,500 pounds. The sturgeon has been around since before the dinosaurs, and its caviar earned prestige from Persian royalty and Russian czars. But when the Acipenser sturgeon population in the Caspian Sea and surrounding areas began to dwindle, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service banned the import of beluga caviar in the early aughts, and listed the Huso huso sturgeon (which produces the (in)famous beluga caviar)
as an endangered species. Miami-based Marky’s Gourmet deli founded Sturgeon AquaFarms in north Florida before the ban. Thus, it was exempt, making it the only company allowed to sell beluga in the country legally. FAVORITE CAVIAR Splurge: Gold Reserve Oscietra or beluga hybrid Save: Kaluga hybrid
DOS & DON’TS
The experts shared the following tips: • Always serve cold. • Traditionally eaten with a mother-ofpearl spoon, caviar can be served in a wooden or even a plastic one in a pinch. Just make sure it’s not metal. • Think quality over quantity. Aim for better quality caviar in a smaller tin. • Don’t chew it. Use your tongue to feel it. Let it linger. Savor it. • Try as many varieties as you can to find your favorite. • Consume within five days once opened. Consume within five weeks unopened.
bocamag.com • • • • January 2024
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