Black, Red, and Salmon Caviar

Welcome to ecocaviar.com. We love sharing our knowledge of this delicacy with the world. Whether you know to order Imperial Gold from the Caspian Sea or prefer salmon roe from Alaskan waters, this site explores all that caviar has to offer.

Caviar is the salted and processed reproductive organs (roe, eggs) of the sturgeon. Osetra, Sevruga and Beluga are the most expensive and well-known types of caviar-producing sturgeon.

The main point of this site is to educate Americans about American caviar alternatives that are also considered eco friendly.

The most important issue facing caviar lovers today is the decline of sturgeon due to overfishing and pollution. The U.S. accounts for more than 60% of Beluga caviar imports and in 2005, hundreds of chefs and concerned activists succeeded in having the sturgeon imports banned from the U.S. in an effort to recover the sturgeon population.

The finest caviar is from sturgeon that lives in the Caspian and Azov Seas and uses the Ural, Danube and the Volga rivers as their main spawning grounds. Their numbers have been on the decline for years – from more than 14,000 tons in the early 1900s down to just 155 tons in 2003, according to scientists from Caviar Emptor. Caviar Emptor is an organization dedicated to raising education about declining sturgeon populations and helping them regenerate.

In 2005, Caviar Emptor succeeded in getting U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to ban the import of Beluga caviar. That ban has since been partially lifted, though efforts to spare the sturgeon soldier on. A lot of chefs and retailers ask consumers to look for American farmed alternatives while the sturgeon populations of the Caspian and Azov recover.

There are five main American caviar alternatives that chefs are praising and urging caviar lovers to try. Farmed White Sturgeon caviar has garnered a lot of praise. It is said this eco friendly alternative is exciting to even the most exacting palate and comparable to the finest Osetra varieties. The Farmed White Sturgeon roe have a nutty taste and firm, small grains.

Farmed Paddlefish Roe is another popular alternative. The Paddlefish is a close cousin of the White Sturgeon. Farmed Rainbow Trout Roe is even more affordable and widely available in America. Critics and chefs agree it can be enjoyed right off the spoon. Rainbow Trout Roe is described as gold, crisp and mild.

Whitefish Roe is akin to the small grains of Sevruga caviar. It has a mild but firm bead that lends itself well to seafood recipes. The Whitefish is generally found in the Great Lakes of the upper Midwest United States. It is also easily assigned a change in color and tastes such as green wasabi, beet and saffron, ginger, and brown tiger eye with white truffle, just to name a few.

Wild Pacific Salmon Roe is a favored alternative for even the most discerning palate – offering an original taste and texture that rivals any from the Caspian. Salmon roe is also known as Red Caviar or Pink Caviar. Salmon roe prepared for sushi recipes is known by its Japanese name, “Ikura.”

 

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