Grains of madness Do you potamotoque Acipenser sturio? Some clues: it is a double-ended (or anadromous) which, in the sea, the rivers began to lay eggs. It is a cartilaginous fish with bony plates, fitted with a muzzle-shaped snout and a tail to the mode of sharks. At the front of his mouth are four ventral wattles with sensory cells. They say they used it to detect its food but also to understand the territory and to remember. Its various names come in Sturk, astargeon, estijon, esturium, esturjoun, Créac ...
It is well sturgeon Aquitaine, locally called "Créac. "It'sa very migrating from us since the days of Neanderthal. It spawns on the right bank of the estuary of the Gironde, Charente side. He likes turbid water and reduced salinity. He stayed there the first years of his life. Then, this great player rushes for his journey to the Caspian Sea, via the Atlantic coast, the North Sea, Baltic Sea, Gulf of Finland, the channel Tichvin and the Volga, "says Jean-Étienne-Surlève Bazeille. Assistant Planning for mayor of Begles is also a biologist who does not hesitate to make a few infidelities to the lamprey, which is a leading expert (1).
The original bed
Migration can take two to three years but the sturgeon is no hurry since its longevity "human" can range from 75 to 100 years. The time for him to "mouvée Saint-Jean, to undertake the journey back to the bed in the original channels Meschers, Mortagne, or Talmont-Saint-Seurin d'Uzet. There he is happily fished for flounder in its firm flesh which we compare the taste to that of the calf. But its overfishing will ban its interministerial decree of January 25, 1982.
And caviar in all this? It was not until the 1920s that is interested. He said that a Russian princess pass on the port of Saint-Seurin-d'Uzet indignant to see the eggs given to chickens and ducks. She promised the fishermen to teach them the secret of the Rabbit became "Khaviar.
Royan, chic resort of choice between the two wars, made fashionable in Paris to enjoy the great taste of these eggs a few millimeters (the same as in the Caspian Sea) that have been discovered among Petrossian brothers or the house in Plum Capital.
"The years caviar, but short annals shall terminate in the mid 60s. The business of tasting in situ left to Paris when the resource dries up, "says Jean-Étienne-Surlève Bazeille. The caviar from the Gironde and Aquitaine is not completely dead. The esturgeonnières have emerged on the estuary, on the Arcachon basin, the Landes and the Pyrenees. The house Cartier, who knows what luxury means, has also precipitated the vein with farms in the Médoc (2). At the nuance that it is more eggs of Acipenser sturio (which would remain a thousand specimens in our waters) but its close cousin, Acipenser baeri.
"This comes from freshwater lakes in central Europe and is very well in the basin. The organoleptic qualities are quite similar. Moreover, both species can interbreed and fertilize. During the blind tasting, caviar baeri is the road, "says our expert. Still, raising the one who was elevated to royal fish by Edward II of England requires great patience. And very lucky.
This big fish 2 to 3 meters, which can weigh up to 200 pounds, must wait 10 to 12 years for males and from 14 to 16 years for females to reach sexual maturity. From there, they provide 12 kilos of caviar weighing 100 pounds. "In the river, you just need the male for several dozen females. But we have not yet developed to determine the sex of fingerlings imported. Scientists are working, "says Jean-Étienne-Surlève Bazeille.
Simplicity Machiavellian
The technique of harvesting the eggs, even if it requires know-how, is relatively simple. It is gutting sturgeon, take the bag eggs, separated on a sieve, rinse and salt. "This simple Machiavellian indeed a luxury. The caviar, like foie gras, can be eaten fresh. It is big enough grain to create this creamy frozen. It tastes like a symphony of the palace. He rolls on the tongue before exploding to release salt. Caviar wakes every emotion buccal papillae of the tongue down my throat. It is in these products magnified, unprocessed, to allow retrieval of ancestral emotions, "says our amateur who admits to having enjoyed a lot during a long stay in Finland.
It remains to discuss price. The caviar from the baeri is more affordable than those from Russia or Iran. It is found in packs of 30 grams to 1 kilogram. As an indication, the pack of 50 grams of Caviar d'Aquitaine Sturia is 98 euros and the Dom Petroff at 60.99?. For the other one can always dream to eat with a ladle a kilo of beluga (Huso Special Reserve) for at Petrossian. But first he must get out the checkbook and bring the zeros: 12 200 euros. At this rate, then the postage can smile. They amount to 15 euros.
(1) Jean-Étienne-Surlève Bazeille collaborated on several books which he addresses the sturgeon. Include "Treasures of Bordeaux gourmands" and "The Four Seasons gourmet Aquitaine", both published by Confluence.
(2) Good Address: Sturgeon SCEA, St. Fort sur Gironde (caviar Sturia) esturgeonnière Teich (Perlita caviar), the Moulin de la Cassadotte to Biganos (Gironde roe), Caviar et Prestige in Saint-Sulpice-et -Cameyrac, Grocery Baroness in Pyla-sur-Mer. Provinces of France in Cestas, Rotissimo in Bouscat, Smith Oil, Black Sea and the Edible Bordeaux. Caviar of the Pyrenees (Val d'Aran) in Toulouse