When is a better period to splash your hard earned money than during the holiday season? The guilt of spending seems to fade away(i know i will regret these words :)) and a few hundreds of euros for a tiny caviar box, seems a little exaggerated, but just fine....And not for any caviar... but made by French.
Obviously, the French are still not satisfied of being the ultimate leaders of all what
is luxury and chose to compete with one of Russia’s multiple natural
resources - the so called "black gold" (Caviar , of course. Did you think oil? :))
I must confess i was slightly sceptical before going to the Caviar House Prunier shop in place de la Madeleine. It was a purely psichologic issue, something the same like with the Chinese grown truffles.
Can hundreds of years of traditions be replaced by simple knowledge of technigues and other know how?I've never tried the Chinese grown truffles, but i found out that the caviar made by French are excellent.
There is a choice of Beluga caviar in the Caviar House Prunier that can differ in maturation,preparation methods and saltiness. "Heritage" Beluga caviar is prepared according to Persian expertise and "stands out by its large grain and lightness of colour" ;"Saint-James" has low salt content and "reaches maturity two months after the fish has been caught"; while "Paris" is " salted just enough to bring out its singular flavour" and "prepared for eating in the days after the fish has been caught".(Some other sorts are "Tradition","Payusnaya Ikra" ,"Malossol" )
According to their website, "Prunier restaurants in Paris are the only ones in the world to receive their caviar just 24 hours after it has been prepared." Quite impressive!
I was invited to the storage and degustation room( a small cold room packed with huge boxes of caviar) and my favorite by far was "Paris" . In the beginning i was proposed "Saint James" caviar which was "the most similar to the caviar from the Caspian sea". (Somehow the very helpful shop assistants thought i was Russian.) But as soon as i tasted the "Paris" caviar , my heart melted- you could really feel the real taste and it was not overshadowed by salt.
Going back to the French selling caviar to the Russians, the shop assistants said soon they would open one shop in Saint-Petersbourg and maybe one on the Red Square.And they were joking that it was quite ironic to sell caviar tothe Russians. Yes, it is quite ironic, but i am sure it will be a huge success.
(Images of "Paris" caviar and its box )
