Red caviar

A little bit from the history of red caviar. Some sources indicate that knowledge about the taste and benefits of red caviar has probably existed for 400 years.

In the 19th century, during the development of the Far East and its annexation to the Russian Empire, red caviar was first only salted, and then eaten whole, in a yastyk (a strong and thin film forming a bag-shell around the eggs). This product was cheap, only 20 kopecks for 30 pounds (almost 500 kilograms), but did not become popular because its unprocessed condition did little to improve the original taste. Salmon caviar is also mined quite far from the capital – in the Kamchatka and Sakhalin regions, while black sturgeon caviar has always been available in the European part of Russia.

In the book "An Essay on Russian fishing" in 1902, it is told: The caviar of whitefish and salmon fish of the northern basins (red caviar) is salted by sprinkling with salt and consumed in local markets, does not find extensive distribution…

Only about 100 years ago, the popularity of the product increased, because the eggs began to be processed into granular red caviar. To do this, it was separated from the dock and wiped through a sieve. Instead of using salt drying the product, red caviar was salted with saturated brine. Then they were cooled and delivered further – to the west of Russia.

The Japanese also wanted to get their hands on such a delicious product. Due to the high demand, they decided to learn how to produce grainy red caviar on their own, called "ikura", which is very similar to the Russian name of the product.

In the USSR, caviar was nicknamed red, because it was a color that immediately distinguished salmon caviar from sturgeon caviar. In the Soviet Union, the sale and production of the product were strictly regulated by the state, so it was produced exclusively in standard 140-gram cans.