Caviar: Iran's priciest export

Caviar is a high-energy food with pleasant taste and smell. The Caspian Sea is the habitat for this valuable fish stocks in the world! In the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and the rivers leading to this coast, more than 78 species and 48 subspecies from 17 caviar families have been identified.This lake’s caviar has a global reputation and 90 percent of the world's caviar is extracted from this sea! Sturgeons are a rare aquatic species that are a few hundred million years old and date back to the Jurassic era, and hence sturgeons are called living fossils which survived along with phylogenic evolution up to now. But the value of sturgeon is not for their meats but for their eggs known as caviar or the Black Pearl. Caviar is solely considered as the world's most luxurious breakfast. In countries where fish and caviar have important places in food habits, the depression is much less than other countries. While traveling in Iran, do not miss this black pearl.

Caviar

Iranian caviar

Caviar is the roe of sturgeon fish, a rare aquatic species living in the Caspian Sea and black sea, about 100 million years old (Jurassic era). That’s why caviar fishes are known as alive fossils!

 Iran is known as the world’s largest exporter of natural caviar, because of Caspian Sea that contains 93 percent of world’s caviar fishes, including five main types: Fil-maahi (Beluga), Qareh-burun, Tas-maahi (Astera), Caviar-ship and Ozun-burun (Sevruga). Iran is in charge of managing and protecting the fishes and extracting three types of caviar that include golden, red and black caviar. The most popular one is black caviar.

 Iranian caviar is known as an expensive food in the world, usually served as breakfast or garnish. This nutritious food is a great source of vitamins and minerals like omega3. One serving of caviar contains an adult’s daily requirement of vitamin B12. But caviar’s salty and buttery unique taste and its pleasant texture felt in the mouth is the main reason for the high payments, for sure.

 Iranian caviar’s quality is judged by its color, taste and texture. A good one has large and unbroken eggs, all in the same size and color with the great taste of butter and walnut and no fishy smell. The older the caviar fish, the better are the caviar eggs, extracted.

Iranian caviar is distributed in little glass or metal boxes, under the control of fisheries organization and can be bought in this organization’s valid agencies in different cities of Iran. So you can enjoy a good meal garnished with some caviar when you travel to Iran. 

Iranian caviar in metal boxes.