Hotel offers guided tours at sturgeon farm

The Barceló La Bombadilla Hotel in Andalusia, Spain, offers a unique tour to its guests. On a guided tour at the nearby sturgeon farm in Rio Frio they can get an insight into the secrets of caviar production. Included are the ultrasound checks regarding maturity of the roe and visits to the processing lab.

Even if I dislike the idea of converting sturgeon farms into a kind of Disneyland (call me paranoid, but industrial espionage exists), I welcome this idea. It helps to raise the public awareness behind this sophisticated art of breeding sturgeon and producing caviar. It has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘wild’ (easy) way. It is a highly knowledge-driven and sensitive endeavour which requires a lot of patience and critical decisions.

And everybody who willingly embarks on this journey receives my respect.

Sea urchin roe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Rio Frio gets recognized in sustainable sturgeon farming

 

Rio Frio, the Andalusian sturgeon farm (Acipenser nacarii), got certified by local authorities already some time back. It is today the only certified sturgeon farm regarding ecological agriculture.

Here I pass a Youtube video.

El Bulli – pure kitchen art

For all the ones who need some more mouth-watering delicacies besides caviar, check out the gourmet heaven restaurant of El Bulli in Spain.  

 

And don’t even think about making a reservation for the next weekend. Needs a couple of months of planning ahead…

 

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