caviar?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
41

From Italy. This is the best I have tasted with the exception of some Iranian Golden Osetra before the embargo. It is not that easy to find I guess. The eggs are a little drier than most caviars. Extremely tasty! http://www.calvisius.com

42

If anyone wants to make an order to ship to Houston from Kelly’s Katch in the next day or two, let me know and we can save on shipping.

43

bump.

44

Yaacov,
I think the Osetra from Caviarstar is very good qpr at $50/oz. $35 overnight FedEx; free if you order $350 or more. I mistakenly ordered 1oz jars and would order fewer, larger jars next time as the eggs on top lacked pop.

45

good to know - thanks.

46

I’ve been on a caviar kick as of late as well. Lady Elena (ladyelenacaviar.com) has been very good and has offerings in my budget as well beyond. They’re into the “education” aspect of caviar which may or may not be your thing, but they provide a very good product at fair prices.

Petrossian is also worth it if ever walking around that part of the city, just to go in and see the space. But you pay a premium of course.

I’d never even think to buy Caviar at Costco…who knew?

47

Michael: Thanks for the note…Lady Elena seems to be a bit higher than Kelly’s or Caviarstar but worth a look. I will be using my last 7 ounce tin from Caviarstar tonight.

Happy New Year! champagne.gif


Cheers!
Marshall [berserker.gif]

48

I purchased some caviar and some “spoonbill” roe from Browne Trading Company on Christmas Eve. We wanted to compare some of the higher priced stuff with a lower-priced domestic product and did some blind tasting. I bought some “Caviar Galilee ‘Royal Osetra’” at $225 for 30g and some spoonbill (paddlefish) roe at $65/oz. We slightly preferred the more expensive, even blind. It was a little more subtle and interesting and with a creamier texture, where the spoonbill was saltier and single note, although I preferred the spoonbill’s pre-pop firmness.

But I was personally disappointed in the expensive stuff. It wasn’t that much better, and texturally it seemed like it wasn’t as fresh as it could have been. Also, the spoonbill was great with creme fraiche and blinis and a second jar was fantastic in slow cooked creamy scrambled eggs the next day. So it’s actually more likely that I’ll purchase the spoonbill in the future than the Israeli “Royal Osetra.”

49

My wife and I do a caviar lunch every NYE. In the past I’ve always ordered from Petrossian - usually some combo of the “Royal Transmontanus” (CA) and “Royal Siberian” (FL). Of the two I always prefer the latter by a pretty wide margin. This year I went with Caviarstar. Ordered 7oz of the Israeli Ossetra but they were out so substituted the NC Ossetra (a bit more costly, but they honored the Israeli price). Pretty good, but certainly not the quality of the Siberian from Petrossian (then again, it’s 60% the price, which is why I ordered it). I don’t know caviar well, but I’d say it lacked the focus and freshness of the Petrossian product. I would probably order it again, and the customer service was great, but in my experience with caviar you pretty much get what you pay for.

50

Ordered hybrid Beluga and the Israeli Osetra from Caviarstar for New Years. Very good, certainly worth the price, not as good as Petrossian or Caviar Russe. Scratches different itch. To be honest, the markup for having service at the restaurant is so low at Caviar Russe that if I want caviar of that quality, I’ll just have them serve it to me there.

51

As a sabra, i was very interested in trying the israeli osetra and got a few ounces from caviarstar as well. great service, packaging, etc.

loved it. very bright flavors and plenty of pop.

would order again.

now i want to try kelly’s katch.

enjoyed with 2 spoons and a bottle of 2005 pierre peters les chetillons.

52

How long will an open tin stay ‘good’ and how long will a never opened tin remain viable?

53

Chris,
I’m no expert (at all) but Petrossian claims their product is stable for a month after purchase, don’t know about an open tin.

54

Just to capture my experience, and in part to help remember for future years…

My wife an I ordered two small tins for NYE this year from Petrossian, one Chataluga Prestige (wild paddlefish) and one Royal Transmontanus (farmed, domestic sturgeon), paired with simple buckwheat blini, creme fresh, and champagne. I liked them both quite a bit, the Chataluga was more mild all said and done, the sturgeon was a much brinier flavor. I enjoyed the chataluga on it’s own, the Transmontanus was better with the blini and creme fresh.

A nice afternoon tasting, worth making happen every couple years or so I think.

55

If you find yourself in LA, Bel-Air Caviar Merchant is the best. I was put off by the name for years thinking it would be overpriced. Alex Golbahar is the king of caviar. He takes one customer at a time and you end up sampling as much caviar as you buy. The quality is amazing and now I don’t waste my time going anywhere else or risking being sent paddlefish roe being passed off as beluga. Bel-Air has no website. You have to visit. Trust me you will never go anywhere else for caviar again.

56

We had a tin of Petrossian Siberian for Xmas eve. It was good but we’d get a pretty strong fishy taste sometimes. This was my first experience with that particular variety so I’m not sure if it was supposed to be that fishy or if I potentially got a bad batch.

Are there any varieties that are more “top of the ocean” flavor and less fishy?

57

I ordered the paddlefish for my wine groups’ Holiday party. I will be serving it tonight for 16 peeps. In addition, I purchased a few ounces of the white sturgeon to try later this week. I will certainly post about it later on. The Israeli Osetra is on the horizon.

Cheers!
Marshall [cheers.gif][/quote]

The paddlefish from Caviarstar was excellent and terrific QPR [welldone.gif] …2 pounds disappeared quite rapidly! I will certainly be a repeat buyer!
Cheers!
Marshall champagne.gif[/quote]



Quoting myself …we enjoyed the White sturgeon very much and it is around the same price as the Israeli Osteria. We need to try that next.



Cheers!
Marshall champagne.gif

58

caviar star now wants minimum $500 for free shipping

Israeli now $60/oz

59

I regrettably have to report that I had a bad order from caviarstar this weekend. Kaluga hybrid and Paddlefish, 2ozs each, both seemed less than spanking fresh with a sticky, soft texture, though flavor was still ok. Big disappointment especially after spending $50 for Saturday delivery.

60

did you call them? If so what was their response?