Celebrating with “caviar and champagne” is synonymous with a rich, refined and expensive party, but the origin of this product and the reason for such a high cost of the famous black beads in a jar are not always known. These are exactly the eggs of a fish: the sturgeon, a fish that reaches 8 meters, 1500 kg and lives up to 100 years, appropriately salted. Originally they were extracted from wild specimens caught in rivers, today caviar is produced from sturgeons bred with rather complex techniques that require experience and scientific skills in aquaculture (i.e. in the controlled breeding of aquatic species).
The use of caviar on the tables of nobles has its roots in the Middle Ages and seems to have been produced for the first time in Russia around 1200; in Italy, the first recipe documented in Cristoforo da Messisburgo’s book dates back to 1563. Many times on the refrigerated counters of supermarkets you can find fish roe used as a “substitute” for caviar, decidedly less expensive, but absolutely less valuable like lumpfish roe, black or reddish in colour, extracted from lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) a fish from the Baltic Sea or trout eggs, of a characteristic bright orange colour, extracted from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii). Indeed, the famous Codex Alimentarius of the FAO which establishes international standards for food products, in 2010 established the univocal reference description for caviar: “product obtained from non-ovulated eggs of fish belonging to the Acipenseridae family, having a final salt concentration of 3-5%, with or without the addition of other food additives and intended for direct human consumption”.
What is caviar and how is it produced
The precious product found in a jar is simply a mixture of sturgeon eggs and salt, but to achieve this result there is a truly complex production technique. Eggs are traditionally obtained by extracting the entire ovary from adult females, immediately after killing them. The connective tissue of the ovary should be immediately removed and the eggs carefully sieved and washed in cold water several times. Then the product is weighed, selected by caliber and salted. Salting is also a particularly delicate phase; it can take place dry or immersed in a sort of brine and the average percentage of salt ranges from 3 to 10%. The caviar is packaged in high-quality tin boxes, hermetically sealed to avoid oxidation and deterioration. In unopened packaging it can last up to 90 days and, if pasteurised, it can last up to a year as long as the packaging remains intact; the important thing in any case is to maintain the so-called “cold chain”, therefore always keeping it in the refrigerator at temperatures around 4 °C.
Considering that the traditional method involves the killing of adult animals and, therefore, presents critical issues from both an economic and ethical point of view, more modern techniques have been tested to extract the eggs without killing the fish. The exact moment of maturation of the eggs must be identified and a substance must be administered to the female to facilitate the release of the eggs naturally or through a simple ventral incision; this allows you to obtain more production cycles. However, this product is classified differently from caviar and is defined, to be precise, as “caviar from ovulated eggs”; the quality is lower because the eggs are more mature, of different consistency and require different treatments to reduce the degree of viscosity.
Originally caviar was extracted from wild sturgeon caught in the wild; fishing pressure combined with other environmental impacts have made sturgeon populations extremely vulnerable and at risk of extinction. In the 90s of the last century the wild caviar market almost completely collapsed. Since then, the breeding of sturgeon for productive use in plants with open-air tank systems for reproduction, growth and fattening of the specimens from which the caviar is extracted has become increasingly popular. The meat of the sturgeon, once sacrificed, is also used, but their economic value is significantly lower than caviar.
What species of sturgeon are used to produce caviar
There are 25 known species of sturgeons, all belonging to the Acipenseridae family and distributed in the northern hemisphere, but only about ten are used for the production of caviar; among these the beluga sturgeon (Huso huso), the Cobian sturgeon (Acipenser naccarii) and the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii). These are prehistoric fish considered to have evolved about 200 million years ago and have maintained some primordial characteristics such as the 5 rows of bony shields present on the body. They are long-lived (they can live up to 100 years), have a notable but very slow growth and can even reach 8 meters in length and 1500 kg in weight. Most species live most of their lives at sea and migrate to river waters to reproduce (anadromous species). Since 1998 all sturgeon species have been declared at risk of extinction.
Why caviar costs so much: properties and prices
Caviar is “noble” not only from a gastronomic point of view, but also nutritionally; it is very nutritious, high in protein, rich in essential amino acids and a source of minerals and vitamins; in particular calcium, phosphorus and vitamin B12. It also contains a significant amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The analysis of caviar in different sturgeon species showed a lipid content of around 10-20% with a prevalence of unsaturated fatty acids compared to saturated fatty acids.
The price of caviar varies greatly depending on various parameters including the species of sturgeon used, the production techniques, the quality of the eggs obtained, but the cost is still very high; the most expensive in the world is Almas obtained from beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) albino, with white-golden eggs and can even reach 40,000 euros per kg, on par with the average cost of DOP saffron, the so-called red gold.
There are many reasons, but in particular factors such as:
- The long times to wait for production, considering that female sturgeons become fertile rather late. For example, the female beluga sturgeon ( Huso huso ) reaches adulthood around 18-20 years, while the female White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) takes an average of 13 years to produce eggs;
- The costs of breeding specimens in captivity are quite high;
- The production techniques are complex and delicate.
Caviar producing countries in the world: Italy in second place
Historically, the largest producers of caviar were Russia and Iran, given the abundance of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and the historical use of their eggs as food. China is currently the main producer in the world, but perhaps some will be surprised to discover that Italy appears at the top of the world production of this delicious food. It is also produced in France, the United States, Russia and Iran. A 2016 European Commission report estimated global caviar production at 340 tonnes with China as the main producer. China’s leadership at a global level was also confirmed in 2024 and Italy ranks second with 67 tons of caviar produced in 2024, concentrated in the factories of Lombardy and Veneto. On the other hand, Italian production of farmed sturgeon has been the highest in Europe since 1990.
