What does caviar taste like?
Caviar tastes like a clean, salty pop of the sea: briny and buttery, sometimes a little nutty, with tiny beads that burst on your tongue, and good caviar isn't fishy.
Caviar
salty, buttery pops of sea
Caviar is salt-cured sturgeon eggs (fish roe). Good caviar shouldn't taste fishy: it should taste like ocean air and butter, with a gentle salt that lingers. Each bead pops when you press it against the roof of your mouth, which is half the fun. Different sturgeon taste different: some are creamy and nutty, others sharper and brinier. Cheaper roe, like salmon or lumpfish, is louder, saltier and fishier. That's why the good stuff is served plain or on a blini (a small pancake) with crème fraîche, with nothing to hide behind.
Where you’ll see it
A small tin with blini, crème fraîche and chives, as a 'bump' (a spoonful off the back of your hand), or a spoonful on top of oysters, deviled eggs, potato chips or pasta.
Order it if you like oysters and salty, buttery things and want a little ceremony.
Quick questions
- Does caviar taste fishy?
- Good, fresh caviar shouldn't. It tastes salty, briny and buttery. A strong fishy taste usually means it's old, or it's a cheaper roe rather than sturgeon.
- What's the difference between caviar and roe?
- All caviar is roe (fish eggs), but strictly, caviar means salt-cured sturgeon roe. Salmon, trout and lumpfish roe are cheaper and taste fishier.
- Why is caviar served with a mother-of-pearl spoon?
- Metal spoons are said to give it a metallic taste, so it's traditionally served with mother-of-pearl, bone, horn or wood.