On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 469
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electrical charges on the proteins within, it
causestheproteinstobondtoeachotherand
thicken the watery egg fluids to a honey-like
luxuriousness.
Insum,alightsaltingtransformsfisheggs
fromamerepleasantmouthfulintothe
remarkablefoodknownascaviar:afleeting
tasteoftheprimordialbrineandthesavory
moleculesfromwhichalllifesprings.
Caviar
CaviarappearstohaveariseninRussia
sometimearound1200CEasamorepalatable
alternativetothetraditionalpreserved
sturgeonovaries.Thoughthetermcaviaris
nowwidelyusedtodescribeanysortof
lightlysaltedloosefisheggs,formany
centuriesitreferredonlytoloosesturgeon
eggs.Themostsought-aftercaviarstillcomes
fromahandfulofsturgeonspeciesmainly
harvestedbyRussianandIranianfishermenas
thefishentertheriversthatdrainintothe
CaspianSea.
Just150yearsago,sturgeonwerecommon
inmanylargeriversthenorthernhemisphere,
andcaviarwasplentifulenoughinRussiathat
ElenaMolokhovetssuggestedusingitto
clarifybouillonsandtodecoratesauerkraut
“sothatitappearsasifitwerestrewnwith
poppyseeds”!Butoverfishing,damsand
hydroelectricplants,andindustrialpollution
havesinceputmanysturgeonspeciesin
dangerofextinction.Around1900,sturgeon
roebecamerare,expensive,andthereforea
sought-afterluxury—andsoevenmore
expensive.Thetrendhascontinued,with
Caspiansturgeonpopulationsplummetingand
U.N.organizationsconsideringanexportban
oncaviarfromtheregion.Inrecentdecades,
caviarproductionhasbeengrowingfurther
east,alongtheAmurRiverinbothRussiaand
China,andonsturgeonfarmsintheUnited
Statesandelsewhere.
