Recently it created a very slick classy briefcase made of calf leather and named it caviar briefcase.

A. Testonis website

Read original article at: Pursuitist

And as always with LV, style is guaranteed.

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See the commercial, aired during the last super bowl.

Travelers to Italy might have got in touch with Bottarga, which is made from tuna/mullet roe. The French are betting on their snail caviar (De Jaeger). The Southeners in the US have their “Cajun caviar” made from bowfin roe. The Japanese sell their sushi often with Masago (made from the smeltfish/capelin roe), Tobiko (made from fly fish roe) or Keta (made from salmon roe or). And very well known, especially in times when home economics are under pressure, is the ”poor man’s caviar”, which is made from eggplants.

Other, but not so popular substitutes to ‘the real thing’ are for example Avruga caviar, which is made from herring roe, Onuga (made from herring and seaweed), sea urchin roe, Lobsviar (made from lobster roe), Tarama (carp or codfish roe) and Cavianne (or Cavi*art).

The latter is a decade old invention by Japanese food scientist Susumu Mikami. His company Hokuyu Foods Co Ltd. (in the city of Aomori, some 600km north of Tokyo) produces about 4tons annually of this imitation caviar, made from an unlikely mix of ingredients – squid ink, pectin from apples, extract of sea urchin, oyster and scallop as well as a type of gum derived from kelp. This production volume is about 20% of the estimated annual consumption of real black caviar in Japan, according to Mikami.

Few Japanese know the name Cavianne, because the fake caviar has been sold mostly for wholesale for use at restaurants and hotels.

Its price is a blessing for all caviarists with a tightening belt: A 50-gram jar of Cavianne goes over the counter for about 11USD. But don’t expect our palate cheering up…

Nothing against the lifestyle of the super rich. But there’s a limit for everything. Not so much for the guys at beveryhillscaviar.com. They are offering ‘caviar’ (actually its salmon roe) for dogs…  

“Delicious gourmet treats for your dog. Discover your pets favorite new treat. Dogs love caviar so much that they leave the biscuit behind. Famous among celebrity clients, this caviar duo will be your pets favorite.

Your dog will surely love you forever after dining on this generous gourmet feast. This makes an ideal birthday gift for your dog. Celebrities and royalty throughout history have fed this elitist food to their loved ones and dogs.”

To make your pampered puppy happy

Andrei Logvin is a russian artist and designer from Moscow. He stirred up the local scene with his award winning advertising poster “Zhizn Udalas” about 10 years ago. It shows black caviar over red caviar. And it says in kirilic “life has been a success”. The work reflects the russian situation back in 1998, when the stock market collapsed and caviar became unaffordable for the most. Triggering a need to reflect on this national delicatesse and the must-have attitude of Moscow’s in-crowd. Of course, over the last 10 years many russians became very (stinky) rich and the impact of this poster lost its provocation.

But now, in the eye of the current economic crisis, as Russia’s finest (oligarchs) are struggling again to protect their remaining billions, this artwork might become their epitome of the Present Tense…

If have already introduced snail caviar from france and mentioned its availability at Harrods.

Here is a youtube video to share about this snail caviar producer De Jaeger.

According to the video, snail eggs can reach up to 4mm in diameter. Impressive. That’s somewhere between beluga and keta kaviar. And I have to admit that the eggs seem to look that way afterall. A bit ‘artificial’ maybe, but it definitely makes me wonder how moos tastes in the mouth…Hopefully I can lay my hands on them soon!

The ultimate in slow food has hit the shelves of Harrod’s food hall. Snail caviar, which is exclusive to Harrods, is produced by De Jaeger in France. The company rears its snails in outdoor pens on a nutritious diet of vegetation and cereal grains, resulting in plump, great tasting snails.

After three years of research De Jaeger has perfected its own method of farming snail caviar and is now offering customers the chance to indulge in the cream-coloured, pearl-shaped delicacy. Each snail lays its eggs once a year, producing around 100 eggs on average. With this tiny, but precious amount, the people at De Jaeger hand pick the eggs every year and sort through them, retaining the best ones for their tins of caviar.

The snail caviar is prepared in a brine of fleur de sel de Guérande, and is available to buy in tins of 50, 125, 250, 500 and 1000 grams. So what does it taste like? Well, according to those in the know, its reminiscent of ‘a walk in the forest after the rain, with the aroma of mushrooms and the undergrowth, tasting of hints of oak leaves and moss’. Admittedly it doesn’t normally cost you £650 for 250g worth of rain, mushrooms and moss, but if caviar is your thing, then its oak flavour and earthy notes could be worth splashing out on.

Available from Harrods in four different sizes ranging from £65/30g to £650/250g.

Related post: http://www.caviarist.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=771

Harrods

There is a new candidate in the very fast growing family of ‘caviar substitutes’ (e.g. lobsviar, snail caviar, tobiko, tarama, botarga, seaweed caviar, etc.). And in the process, the real stuff (sturgeon roe), gets waterized more and more by these cheap and almost always disgusting ‘alternatives’ (altough there is plenty of ‘disgusting’ caviar on the market aswell…). Ok, that might sound too harsh. But at least they are not to be considered as a substitute for caviar. Or is riding a bike a real alternative for driving an Aston Martin? Of course it’s not.

So, we should name these babies by their names by saying ‘caviar imitations’ – at best.

Anyway, back to the subject. This caviar imitation made of sea urchin comes from Spain. And 120grams go over the shelf for only about 10-12EUR. So, ‘cheap’ seems definitely apropriate to me…But to be honest, I never tried that one so I put it onto my to-do list. After all they told us to never judge a book by its cover.

Here’s what they say about it:

“Expert gourmets agree that Sea Urchin Caviar is one of the best tasting dishes, even when you have it plain with no other seasonings. It is also an excellent ingredient to add to any of your seafood dishes. In truth, there is no other product that will bring the sea-flavor to your table as perfectly as the sea urchin.

Conservas La Polar is an SME located in the coastal city of Gijon (Spain) since 1959. Its main activity is production of select fish and seafood preserves for the high end of the market of delicatessen. It also has a brand EuroFood, for production of  pre-cooked dishes typical of regional Asturan cooking.

Eurostockweb are the exclusive exporter for all the world.” (Taken from http://www.alibaba.com/product-tp/105522510/Sea_urchin_roes_caviar_120_gr.html)

In case of having questions about quality, prices or even wanting to make your own brand, here are the contact details:

Mr. Benjamin Chevillard Marques can be reached under: 0034-985-134384

Company details: EUROSTOCKWEB CB, Avenida Castilla 21, 33203 Gijon, Asturias, Spain

Joseph Heywood’s mystery novel called ‘Death Roe’ is about Grady Service, a detective for Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources. Usually, the people Service pursues are poachers and other violators of fish and game laws.

In this, the sixth book in the series (Woods Cop Mysteries), Service comes across a deadly mare’s nest involving tainted Lake Ontario salmon eggs, intended for bait only, mixed with clean Michigan eggs and sold to cruise lines as caviar.

The eggs were contaminated with the insecticide mirex. The resultant “caviar” can sicken people and even kill them.

Service’s investigation takes him from the wilds of Michigan to Alaska, to New York’s Ukrainian mafia territory and to Costa Rica.

It got 5***** on Amazon.com

Buy at Amazon.com