There is cheap Chinese caviar, but what we carry is one of the best on the market.”. At the new Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire in Shanghai, Kaluga’s product is featured in multiple dishes such as a slow poached egg with Champagne sauce. Photographer: Ted Cavanaugh for Bloomberg Businessweek. The bulk of China's production comes from a picturesque lake ringed by mountains in eastern Zhejiang province where industry leader Kaluga Queen breeds the giant fish. The resulting large and glossy grains range in color from light gray to black. Overfishing there eventually landed them on the endangered species list, and as supply dwindled, other nations, including Japan, Israel, and China, have started to fill the gap. Each sturgeon has an identification number, and each tin has a code, which customers can use to trace the fish’s color as well as the results of its regular physicals. For a long time, Iran and Russia fished sturgeon in the wild in the Caspian Sea. premium content on your favourite platforms, Amazon says almost 20,000 workers had Covid-19 in six months, Oei Hong Leong sues Raffles Education over proposed stake purchase, Singapore shares slip at Friday's open; STI down 0.1%, Oil drops for second day as worsening pandemic threatens demand drop, AGV executive director, probed by CAD, agrees to step down, Pinnacle@Duxton five-room flat sets resale record at S$1.26m, Private home purchases at odds with headline economic toll. A tin of Kaluga Queen sits next to President Obama’s namecard during  the 2016 G20 Summit. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes. Kaluga Queen has 300 employees looking after some 200,000 sturgeons. Though no one wants to say it, China is producing some of the most delectable fish eggs available. Buy Kaluga Fusion Black Caviar: ☑ Best Price – $ 1836.10 ☑ Top Quality ☑ Overnight Delivery ☎ 1-305-758-9288 – Buy at Marky's Gourmet Store Lufthansa offers it in first-class cabins. Well, let's just say it's a blissful marriage of Kaluga and Schrencki - creamy, buttery, nutty with that fabulous, famous burst of the sea. Kaluga caviar is, as of September 2014, illegal to import into the United States. Enjoy this … Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Email us at [email protected]. Singtel's group CEO Chua Sock Koong to retire; Yuen Kuan Moon to take over. Please confirm for access to all your SPH accounts. Have a confidential tip for our reporters? Be aware: Kaluga caviar is incorrectly marketed as River Beluga and a substitute for Caspian Beluga Caviar. “Exports of Chinese caviar will boom because of sanctions and limited supplies from Iran and Russia,” Rein says. But to find out where it’s from, guests still need to ask. Depending on the species, the price per kilo varies between 10,000 yuan (S$1,920) and 180,000 yuan. Disney, Rivals Take Aim at California’s Park-Reopening Rules, The Rock’s Reborn XFL Faces ‘Uphill Battle’ After Two Failures, Justin Bieber’s Instagram Photo Sends Crocs Shares Soaring, N.Y. Food Scene Gets Le Bernardin Boost With Indoor Dining Back. The fish are raised in the Zhejiang province of China, where the Huangshan Mountains supply the man-made Qiandao Lake with fresh, cold water. Beluga caviar, also known as Huso Huso, is the king of caviar. In seeking pure quality, Marky’s has undertaken the task of involving Caspian professionals, whom process the finest and most expensive black caviar around the world. Sturgeon pens in Qiandao Lake in the Zhejiang province of China. It sells five kinds, but Petrossian’s best-seller is Huso Hybrid ($210 for 30g), which comes from a hybrid of Kaluga and Amur sturgeon. Anything that we get from China we make especially certain that it conforms to our standards.” At a tasting, the Huso Hybrid caviar proved exquisite. Hello, your email is unverified. The large gray eggs have a softly saline taste and a terrific pop. Russia and Iran have long dominated the caviar export market, harvesting the delectable eggs from beluga sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. VERIFICATION EMAIL. Mention China alongside almost any food product, and people get nervous. The country has endured embarrassing food scandals in recent years, but its sturgeon eggs have gained the respect of caviar connoisseurs around the world. We see them from when they're very young, so it's hard when they are sent to be slaughtered," Mr Qiao said. The biggest sturgeons can grow to be four metres long and weigh 300 kilograms. Today, Kaluga Queen has an annual turnover of 220 million yuan and counts among its customers German airline Lufthansa and L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, a two-Michelin starred restaurant in Shanghai. It’s now the caviar of choice for 21 of the 26 Michelin three-starred restaurants in Paris, including Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée Hotel. But because most consumers still associate Chinese brands with inexpensive knockoffs, the provenance of Kaluga Queen caviar is rarely mentioned. “Many restaurateurs will buy Chinese caviar because of good quality, reasonable price, and ample stock.”. "They're like our babies. The roe is then washed, sorted, salted and placed in boxes. These mild, buttery, large … Very similar to Beluga in taste and appearance - large and glosssy eggs with a mild and buttery taste. Tell us what you think. Sturgeons producing the most expensive caviar can carry as much as two million yuan worth of eggs. The company's sturgeon farm is a 20-minute boat ride from the shore in Qiandaohu, or "Thousands Islands Lake". Kaluga Queen, which produces its caviar about 300 miles southwest of Shanghai, ... “Many restaurateurs will buy Chinese caviar because of good quality, reasonable price, and ample stock. AFP, For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Kaluga Queen, which produces its caviar about 300 miles southwest of Shanghai, is mindful of these associations. Kaluga caviar is best served with a blini and a glass of dry white wine or champagne brut. A sturgeon (above) at a fishery run by Chinese caviar company Kaluga Queen in the picturesque Qiandao lake, in China's Zhejiang province. Customers include Lufthansa and L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. This site requires JavaScript to function properly. Product images are for illustrative purposes only and may differ from the actual product, Coho Salmon Roe, Coho Ikura, Wild Canadian Salmon Roe, Kisutch, Salmon Roe Keta Caviar, Keta Ikura, Chum Ikura, CORONAVIRUS PRECAUTIONS ENFORCED BY MARKY’S, Product is perishable and will be shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight. The eggs pop on the roof of your mouth and the flavour that explodes is salty, buttery and rich. Once they reach sexual maturity, females are fished out and taken to a laboratory where they are stunned before their bellies are sliced open to extract the black eggs. Kaluga Fusion Sturgeon Caviar, Amber - Malossol, Farm Raised. An employee washing out sturgeon roe. Even so, Petrossian notes that his company takes multiple quality-­control trips each year: “We check the water, the fish. The brand was created in 2005 by experts who worked for the ministry of agriculture and it now produces more than a third of the world's caviar, making China the global leader. “The biggest obstacle is the low trust of Chinese food safety,” says Lily Liu, marketing manager for parent company Hangzhou Qiandaohu Xunlong Sci-tech Co. And yet after the first tin was shipped in 2006, Kaluga Queen began to build a distinguished fan base. Chinese caviar had to overcome scepticism from foreign clients who were used to headlines about food scandals, from contaminated milk powder to soya sauce containing arsenic and rice tainted with cadmium. “It was difficult to convince people that it was not a cheap product. Chinese caviar producers like Kaluga Queen are flooding the global market, making the food cheaper and more accessible. The company’s sturgeon roe was even part of President Obama’s meal at the 2016 Group of 20 summit. After international incidents involving bleach-soaked meat, antifreeze-laced apple juice, and pine nuts “unfit for human consumption,” the country “is known for tainted food because of repeated quality-control scandals,” says Shaun Rein, managing director for the China Market Research Group. And the flavor? Depending on the species, the price per kilo varies between 10,000 yuan (S$1,920) and 180,000 yuan.