There are caviar and "caviar". What first comes to mind when you hear the word "caviar?" Apparently the epithet "black", associated with the lightly salted eggs of some sturgeon. And yet, today many people talk about caviar, without specifying.

Black caviar, from sturgeon eggs, its species and categories If you look carefully at a sturgeon, you realize that it is a very special, prehistoric genus of fish - it first appeared 250 million years ago, approximately. Of the twenty-four species that have managed to survive to this day, theoretically, the best known to us are those whose name corresponds to caviar: The largest and rarest sturgeon is the Beluga (Huso huso) of the Caspian and Black Seas, known for its large, dark gray eggs. They estimate that about thirty eggs weigh one gram. In the international markets one can also find Kaluga, the Dorian sturgeon or Schrenck's sturgeon (Huso Dauricus or Acipenser Schrenckii), the closest relative of the Beluga sturgeon. It usually weighs around 30-50 kg, its eggs are larger than belugas and their delicate taste makes them sought after. Kaluga lives in the deep and sweet waters of the vast Amur or Sakhalian Ula River, a section of which forms the natural border between China and Russia. Because it is a benthic fish, feeding on invertebrates and smaller fish, its brownish and slightly gray-green eggs have a distinctive, marine aroma, subtly iodized, with notes of cashew nuts. It is quite different from its close cousin Kaluga Royal (a cross between Huso Dauricus and Acipenser Schrenckii. Kaluga eggs are juicy, percussive, and their flavor is rich, smooth, creamy, buttery, and dry, because this fish lives in very cold and crystal clear waters. The Baeri or Acipenser baeri sturgeon (Acipenser Baeri baerii) originates from Bair, Siberia and its length varies between 0.5 -1 meter, while if it lives free it can reach three meters. This genus of sturgeon is the most common for farming in Europe. The Baeri species produces the caviar of Aquitaine in France, but also a part of the Greek caviar of Arta (Thesauri). Its eggs are relatively small, easily detached from each other, and their taste is very delicate .Their color is brownish-red and quite dark.Their aroma is fresh, fruity and slightly iodized.Baeri acipenser also live in Lake Baikal (Acipenser baerii baicalensis).Their eggs are smaller and darker than other fish of the species, but their flavor is more distinctly fruity and more intense.

The Oscietra sturgeon (photo above), whose length starts from 1.5 meters and reaches 2 meters and 150 kilograms, lives exclusively in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov (the Maeot lake of the ancient Greeks) and the Caspian Sea. Oscietra caviar is produced from two genera of sturgeon: Russian (Acipenser Gueldenstaedtii) and Persian (Acipenser Persicus). This sturgeon belongs to the "retrogrades" because it has the habit of coming up from the sea and gives birth in rivers. The color of the eggs is from grey-charcoal to golden yellow, of caramel. Its taste and aroma are subtle, with hints of hazelnut or walnut and stronger iodine. The Star sturgeon or Sevruga (Acipenser Stellatus) is smaller. It does not exceed 1.5 meters and 80 kilograms. It lives in the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Azov Sea, and its small eggs (about 70 per gram) are extremely fragile and delicate. They are dark gray to almost black, with a fairly strong sense of iodine and a very fine mouthfeel. Even if this sturgeon is farmed, it produces eggs much closer in flavor to those of its wild, free-ranging, retrograde brethren. Little Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) or Sterlet Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), although it is smaller in size – it does not exceed 1.25 m and 26 kg – it is so reminiscent of Sevruga, that the eggs they hardly stand out in taste. Their evaluation First of all, caviar is evaluated by the size of the eggs and their texture. The bigger and firmer they are and the more nicely they break and fill the mouth with their subtle iodized taste and their fine dry carpathian aroma, the more they are appreciated. If, on the contrary, their taste is too aggressive and fishy, then it is considered that the caviar is not valued as first class. Of course, the place and the way the fish are raised can positively or negatively affect the taste and aroma of their eggs. For this reason even for caviar that comes from the same species of sturgeon the categorization differs, those whose eggs are not beautifully shaped and not firm, but also those that are less delicate are always considered inferior. The color of the eggs is also a criterion. For example '000' beluga caviar should be a silver or light gray colour, '00' is more grey, while '0' is clearly dark grey. Light-colored caviar is rarer and more expensive than dark-colored caviar, although the color does not affect the taste. Let's also say that if the eggs have lost their original shape, this does not mean that their taste has been degraded, even though their price will be significantly lower.

The rarest type of caviar and one of the most expensive is the so-called "golden caviar" (also known as royal caviar), from the eggs of albino oscietra sturgeons, which suffer from alfism (lack of melanin). Their rarity reaches 1‰. The most expensive caviar in the world, however, is Almas (pictured above), derived from Iranian Beluga or Oscietra sturgeon, at least 60 years old, which sells for around £20,000 (€23,440) and is prized for its fine and delicate aromas and the creamy texture of his eggs.