What used to be discarded as pig food has become a specialty sought after by the rich

In the 19th century, this food was once discarded or used as pig food, but now it has become a luxury specialty for the rich.

From discarded food. to pigs

Sturgeon caviar is one of the most expensive and luxurious foods in the world. With the price sometimes up to 35,000 USD/kg (about 800 million VND), it is loved and sought after by the nobility around the globe.

The Persians were the first group of people to regularly consume caviar. They believe this is a way to promote health and endurance. Later, the Romans also believed that this was also a cure for diseases.

Sturgeon roe used to be a discarded item.

But in reality, sturgeon eggs are not always so valuable. In the 19th century, sturgeon was so popular in America that its eggs were given away to customers. Meanwhile, in Europe, fishermen used to throw it on the beach or feed it to pigs.

So what has changed?

The luxury caviar of the elite must be the roe of sturgeon, a fish of 27 varieties that live in North America, Europe and Asia. But this may soon change because sturgeon populations are in danger of extinction due to human overexploitation and destruction of their habitat.

Sturgeon species are sought after.

In 2010, the International Union for Conservation of Nature placed 18 species of sturgeon on the Red List of Threatened Species. Thereby, sturgeon becomes the most endangered species group in the world.

What used to be discarded as pig food has become a specialty sought after by the rich

But this list is evaluated as a "double-edged sword". On the one hand, they help this fish preserve its numbers. On the other hand, the rarer they are, the higher their prices are.

The dish is upgraded to a luxury item

It was not until the 20th century that sturgeon and their eggs became a scarce commodity. Polluted water sources and dams block their reproductive migration routes, leaving them with no place to lay their eggs. Meanwhile, humans continue to overfish for meat and eggs.

On the other hand, it takes 8 to 20 years for a sturgeon to reach full reproductive maturity. Each one can lay up to a thousand eggs in one batch. However, the probability is that only one will survive to adulthood. Due to insufficient supply and demand, caviar has become a luxury item sought after by gourmets.

Sturgeons are injected with hormones and stimulated to lay eggs

Today, most of this food is obtained from farms. Kaluga Queen Farm in China produces 35% of the world's caviar.

If in the past, you had to kill them to get the eggs, now some farms are experimenting with new methods to get eggs without killing the animal. At that time, fish were injected with hormones to stimulate egg laying. This method has received many compliments and high consensus. However, it is not really popular yet.

The fish farming industry has applied this method for many years with the aim not to get eggs but to increase the number of fish. However, farming fish on the farm will give the wild sturgeon a chance to recover. But whether that succeeds or not still depends on people.

Gold marinated sturgeon eggs cost more than 6 billion VND/box.

In recent years, new caviar has been canned for sale. The most luxurious dish is made from rare albino sturgeon roe. The most expensive is the white gold caviar with a price of up to 200,000 pounds per box (more than 6 billion VND), becoming a high-class dish for the super-rich.

According to the manufacturer, to get 1 kg of caviar, they have to dry 6 kg of fresh caviar. After drying, they lose 80% of their weight and are mixed with 22 carats of fine gold. The taste of the dish is commented very strongly, just eat with toast with butter, you can clearly feel the freshness.