The History Of Caviar

Caviar has been known since antiquity, especially among the ancient Greeks. Both Herodotus and Stravon are said to have loved his taste. The ancient Greeks had a special preference in sturgeon eggs that came solely from the Black Sea, according to Arhestratos, a great gastronomist of antiquity (4th century BC). Galileo is also said to serve caviar to his daughter, as a sign of love.

However, its broader spread across Europe started in the final years of tsarist Russia, where it was used in official tsarist menus, resulting in the exponential development of an entire mass industry. It is noted that at at the time, since both the Islamic and Jewish faiths forbade the eating of fish without scales, sturgeon fishing and all caviar trade passed to Russians and Greeks.

The national benefactor Ioannis Varvakis was one of the most important of these Greeks. He gained the affection of Empress Catherine and settling in the Caspian Sea city of Astrakhan, where he engaged in the manufacturing and preparing of caviar, establishing a large factory. It quickly dominated the trade of the Ottoman Empire's, Persia's, and Egypt's markets.

Today, the main caviar production bears the names Beluga, Sevrouga, and Osietra (or Ascetra, or Osquietra), which are taken from the names of the best sturgeon varieties. It should be remembered that, of the approximately 25 basic species of sturgeon, only the three species mentioned above are used to grow caviar suitable for industrial processing. The Caspian region, located between Russia and Iran, is the site of the largest production of caviar.

Τhe only sure thing is that this exquisite dish has not lost its glamor in the course of history and today there are some companies from which we can buy caviar of exceptional quality.

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