What Drinks to Serve with Caviar

The two most popular beverages with simple caviar are frozen vodka or a very dry Champagne or sparkling wine. A dry white wine also works well.

How to Serve Caviar

Caviar should be served from a non-metal spoon. Caviar spoons are widely available in bone, tortoise shell and mother of pearl. Any metal, including silver, will impart a metallic flavor to the granules.

Tips on Serving Caviar

If you don´t have a caviar server, place the caviar in a small glass or porcelain bowl inside of a larger bowl filled with crushed ice. Make sure that the water does not enter the caviar bowl as the ice melts.

Serve Caviar with These Foods

Here are some suggestions on what foods to try with caviar: Top scrambled eggs with caviar, or hide some inside an omelet. Carve out cooked baby red potatoes with a melon baller, fill with sour cream and top with caviar. Toss a bowl of angel hair pasta with caviar. Use caviar as a "frosting" for a whole soft creamy cheese. Sprinkle caviar onto the top of deviled eggs or fold it into egg salad. Top potato pancakes with sour cream and caviar. Mix caviar with cream cheese and use it as a stuffing for celery sticks or artichoke hearts. Top broiled oysters or clams with caviar before serving. Use caviar to garnish cold soups such as cream of potato or borscht. Add caviar to a vinaigrette dressing and toss with greens.

Caviar Storage

Refrigerate the caviar until just before serving caviar. An unopened caviar jar may be stored in the refrigerator for up to ten days.

Serving Caviar

Make sure you are serving caviar with a mother of pearl caviar spoon being careful not to crush the eggs. Avoid using sterling silver as it leaves a metallic taste and the caviar will discolor the silver.

Storing Caviar

While pasteurizing caviar will maintain its newly-packed caviar freshness for up to three months, all gourmet caviar is perishable and should be treated gently. Caviar should be stored between 26 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit. This can be done either by putting the tin in the coldest part of the refrigerator or by placing the tin in a bowl and surrounding it with crushed ice. Unopened fresh caviar will last up to a few weeks, but once the tin in opened, it should be eaten right away. If caviar is left in the tin, the surface should be smoothed and a sheet of plastic wrap should be pressed directly onto the surface before placing it back in the refrigerator. Turn the tin over each day so the oil reaches all of the eggs.

Lemon Juice on Caviar

Depending on the grade of gourmet caviar, the flavor of lesser grades can be enhanced with a dab of fresh lemon juice.

Types of Caviar

Caviar comes from three species of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. Caviar from each has its own special characteristics.

Beluga caviar: Coming from the largest of the sturgeon species, Beluga caviar is light to dark gray in color with large granules and a delicate skin.

Osetra caviar: These are dark brown to golden in color with large granules and a delicate skin. Golden Osetra, the most rare of Caspian Sea sturgeon, produces a limited quantity of light golden eggs, sometimes referred to as "Royal Caviar."

Sevruga caviar: These eggs are smaller, with a fine dark gray color.

Types of Gourmet Caviar

Caviar comes from three species of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. Caviar from each has its own special characteristics.

Beluga caviar: Coming from the largest of the sturgeon species, Beluga caviar is light to dark gray in color with large granules and a delicate skin.

Osetra caviar: These are dark brown to golden in color with large granules and a delicate skin. Golden Osetra, the most rare of Caspian Sea sturgeon, produces a limited quantity of light golden eggs, sometimes referred to as "Royal Caviar."

Sevruga caviar: These eggs are smaller, with a fine dark gray color.