Making Caviar In traditional caviar-making,
sturgeon are captured alive in nets, stunned,
and their roe sacs removed before they are
killed and butchered. The caviar maker passes
the roe through screens to loosen the eggs and
separate them from the ovary membrane, sorts
and grades the eggs, and then dry-salts and
mixes them by hand for two to four minutes to
obtain a final salt concentration between 3 and
10%. (Small amounts of alkaline borax
[sodium borate] have been used since the
1870s to replace part of the salt, making the
caviar taste sweeter and improving its shelf
life, but the United States and some other
countries forbid borax in their imports.) The
eggs are allowed to drain for 5 to 15 minutes,
filled into large cans, and chilled to 26ºF/–3ºC
(the salt prevents freezing at this
temperature).
The most highly prized caviar is the most
perishable. It goes by the Russian term
malossol, which means “little salt,” and
barry
(Barry)
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