Vesti FM: “A New Era of Black Caviar”

SATANOVSKY: What exactly is your organisation? What was the idea behind it?

SHINKARENKO: We do a rather thankless job: working with legal caviar in Russia. Not particularly prestigious, but fascinating!

SATANOVSKY: Wild or mostly farmed? Legal caviar means not poached?

SHINKARENKO: Exactly! Because catching fish for caviar is prohibited…

SATANOVSKY: For everyone?

SHINKARENKO: For everyone!

SATANOVSKY: Understood; we will bear that in mind.

SHINKARENKO: There is an absolute ban on catching wild sturgeon, so “wild caviar” is outside the law. Today we are discussing products that actually exist, can be produced legally and taste good.

SATANOVSKY: Which fish do you farm? Beluga too?

SHINKARENKO: Yes! There are many sturgeon species, all capable of living on sturgeon farms. Farmed does not mean fake: the fish simply live in enclosures or a specialised farm rather than freely in the wild.

SATANOVSKY: Can all species live on farms?

SHINKARENKO: Almost all. Most farms specialise in species that adapt best, survive well, are comfortable in captivity and are most productive.

SATANOVSKY: Which species? I am genuinely interested.

SHINKARENKO: Siberian sturgeon: a fascinating, noble fish used by about eighty percent of farms. One detail is that it never lived in the Caspian Sea. The past and present are different eras.

SATANOVSKY: There used to be the Soviet Union. Many things were different!

SHINKARENKO: I remember. In the past, there were really two caviars: fresh and stale. Fish were caught in the Caspian, lived under the same conditions, ate similar fry, and their roe was obtained in one way and prepared to GOST standards. The diversity we discuss today did not exist. There were different fish species, as you rightly said, beluga and others, but…

SATANOVSKY: Sterlet, sturgeon!

SHINKARENKO: The product was standard and clearly understood: caviar was caviar. Today is different. Farming sturgeon under diverse conditions has become more like winemaking: flavour depends not only on species but also on harvesting methods, feed and technology. Few people know how diverse the product now is.

BELYAEV: What main groups can today's products be divided into?

SATANOVSKY: With wine it is clear: dry, semi-dry, sweet, semi-sweet. Naturally semi-sweet!

SHINKARENKO: Above all, it should taste good! But harvesting methods are important. Previously fish were caught and killed to obtain the roe…

SATANOVSKY: Open the belly and there is your caviar! You cannot stitch it back up!

SHINKARENKO: Our classic traditionally harvested caviar…

SATANOVSKY: The fish died, incidentally.

SHINKARENKO: It was eaten too — and delicious! When farms began breeding fish, they found killing them was not very economical. It is a lengthy process with difficult economics and long-term investment: after four years we determine whether a fish is male or female. Males are slaughtered because they are not needed, while females are raised for another four years.

Listen to the full interview in the audio version.