The Holidays are overflowing with magic inoculated in part by all these little pleasures that we offer and that we allow ourselves. We will show you one a week between now and Christmas, to add some pomp to the ordinary. This week: Quebec caviar.
“Caviar” is one of those words that instantly conjures up luxury, like “champagne” or “diamond”. Secondly, it generates landscapes of Russia or images of vodka, the alcohol traditionally served to accompany this product which is considered, in some countries, to be “black gold”. However, Quebec has its own precious pearls.
Taken from the fresh waters of Lake Saint-Pierre, where the St. Lawrence River opens between Trois-Rivières and Sorel, Quebec caviar is an exception. It is one of the very few to still come from a wild fishery. Over 5,000 species of sturgeon – because real caviar always comes from sturgeon, not lumpfish or salmon – are protected by the International Convention on Endangered Species (CITES). Due to overfishing, the highly regarded Caspian caviar now comes from farmed sturgeon.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY OYSTERS & CAVIARS
The best way to taste caviar is plain.
The black pearls of Lake Saint-Pierre are produced in an artisanal way. They are considered by connoisseurs to be more “raw” than certain imported products. “The eggs are irregular in size and the taste is more pronounced than that of fine caviars, but it is an excellent product”, according to François-Xavier Dehédin, who worked with caviar from Lake Saint-Pierre for a long time before founding Oysters. & Caviars, which specializes in premium caviar imported from Poland. “It’s a question of taste, knowledge and resources. ”
The price of caviar from Lac Saint-Pierre ranges from $ 60 to $ 110 per 50 g. The price of some imported caviars is over $ 500 for the same quantity. “There are very few fishermen left who make caviar in Lac Saint-Pierre. The quality varies according to the producers, but it is generally good value for money, ”says the owner of the fishmonger La Mer, John Meletakos, which also offers caviars from Poland, Iran, Uruguay and Colombia. -British. Its local caviar is sold fresh in season, in September. It is offered frozen the rest of the year.
Caviar can be served as a garnish on foods whose flavors do not compete with the taste of the precious product, which is described as herbaceous and saline, in the case of sturgeon eggs from Lake Saint-Pierre. , while Béluga and Ossestra type caviars are respectively more fatty in the mouth and iodized.
No matter what type of caviar you choose, the best way to enjoy it is plain, advises François-Xavier Dehédin. It is placed in a mother-of-pearl or stainless steel spoon, the materials of which do not risk oxidizing the product and altering its taste. Better yet: “You simply put a small amount of caviar on the top of your hand and you then have access to all its nuances of taste. Good caviar is divine! He said.
You can find caviar from Lake Saint-Pierre in some fishmongers, such as La Mer.