Caviar has its own vocabulary and here are the terms worth knowing.
Aquaculture. Farmed production, as opposed to wild harvesting. Since 2008, virtually all caviar on the market is aquaculture-produced, and the best farms now produce roe of exceptional quality.
Beluga, Oscietra, Sevruga, Kaluga, Amur, Siberian (Baerii), Sterlet. most common sturgeon species, now farmed rather than wild-caught. Each has its own flavour profile, pearl size, and price point. See our full Caviar Guide for details.
CITES Certification. The international documentation required for legal trade in sturgeon products, issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Without it, you can't verify where your caviar came from.
Cold Chain. The unbroken refrigerated logistics needed to get caviar safely from producer to you. Any reputable retailer will dispatch with full cold-chain packaging.
Malossol. Russian word for 'little salt'. The benchmark processing method for premium caviar, using 3-5% salt by weight to preserve, rather than mask, the natural flavour of the roe.
Maturation. The resting period after salting, during which flavour develops and the salt integrates.
Pearl. The individual egg. Size, shape, colour, and texture all matter, and pearl uniformity is one of the primary indicators of quality.
Pop. The sensation of a pearl bursting on the palate. A clean, decisive pop is a good sign. Sluggish or absent pop can point to over-salting, poor handling, or age.
Roe. The unfertilised eggs of a fish. Caviar specifically refers to the salted roe of sturgeon - so all caviar is roe, but not all roe is caviar.
Stripping. A harvesting method where roe is gently extracted from the live fish without killing it, allowing the sturgeon to produce again. It's increasingly adopted by premium producers as a more sustainable approach.
Tin. The standard packaging for premium caviar. Tins should be airtight, stored at -3°C to +3°C, and consumed promptly once opened. The seal quality and tin weight are both useful indicators of production standards.
