This Caviar Trend Is Truly Decadent
Caviar only for the rich and famous, who decadently eat it off a little spoon? No way! These days, caviar is just as ordinary a topping as granola on your yogurt. If we can believe the trends, we’ll be sprinkling it on everything. So yes, also on our pizzas, burgers, and ice cream.
Are we really so far ahead of this trend? Because last year we already recommended the kibbeling with caviar, and even the frikandel with caviar made an appearance. Well, call us trendsetters if you like.
Caviar: an expensive snack for the elite
If you’re asked to name an expensive ingredient, there’s a good chance you’ll say ‘caviar.’ Caviar is pricey. Very pricey. That’s because it’s a valuable product. Caviar consists of the unfertilized eggs of the sturgeon, some species of which are extremely rare. The fish take years (10 to 15 years!) to mature and produce eggs. In addition, harvesting is labor-intensive and subject to strict regulations. Add to that the fact that caviar is incredibly sought-after, and you may understand why you have to pay a considerable amount for it.
To make it a little more concrete: the unfertilized eggs of the rare albino sturgeon, Almas, cost at least € 42,000 excluding VAT per kilo. Gulp. (You can read more fun facts you can use to bluff about caviar here.)
I’ll have fries with caviar, please
But caviar isn’t only found in Michelin-starred restaurants, or on the fancy table at the homes of the rich and famous. Chefs are increasingly using caviar in their dishes. And young people are also choosing caviar more and more often. Who’s responsible for that? Completely fitting for our times: influencers and celebrities on social media. Recently, Hailey Bieber—the wife of Justin—went viral with a simple In ‘n Out burger that she dressed up with some caviar. And yes, if it works on a burger, it can work on fries, donuts, pizza, and ice cream too. Right?
So is caviar cheap these days? Not necessarily. There is a lot of farmed caviar available at the moment, which may make it somewhat more affordable. Salmon roe is also widely available (those are the orange-colored eggs), and it costs considerably less than sturgeon caviar anyway. The same goes for the small dark pearls of herring roe.
Are you going to place your weekly order at the chip shop this weekend? Ask for caviar as a topping, I’d say. And if they look at you strangely: at Zwarte Cross, you could get caviar from a vending machine. So that question really isn’t all that strange, in our opinion.
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