Caviar Recipes
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Caviar is dotting the landscape of our menus more and more. Popular caviar recipes encompass pizza, soup, dips and spreads, and a host of elaborate canapes. And they're delicious.
Fine caviar, however, should be served as simply as possible; the fewer accoutrements the better. In fact, many connoisseurs prefer to eat caviar au naturale.
The food and drink that does accompany fine caviar is slightly bland; it carries the delicate flavor, never overwhelms it or detracts from it.
Caviar Serving Suggestions
For drinks, serve unflavored Vodka, dry champagne, or mineral water, all very well chilled. A chilled dry white wine is acceptable also. For a treat, "freeze" the Vodka and chill the glasses. But don't try freezing the champagne.
As to other accompaniments, the classic Russian combination is still the best, caviar and blini, buttered or with a dollop of crème fraiche or even sour cream.
Similarly, use toast points or a very small, thinly sliced baguette. Any bread used should be only lightly toasted and still soft, not crumbly like crackers. Besides ruining the texture of the caviar, it wouldn't do to have any of that lovely (and expensive) caviar on the floor.
Often, caviar is served with lemon wedges, capers, finely chopped onion and hard cooked egg, chopped. You might want to rethink that since it seems to be a throwback to times when caviar was not always as fresh and tasty as we get it today. But it's up to you.
Potatoes and eggs make good caviar vehicles as well, as in our caviar version of Potato Nests with Caviar and Caviar on Quail Eggs recipes.
Another crowd-pleaser and eye-pleaser is a spread called Caviar Pie. This is definitely one instance where you want to go with less expensive caviar; I can't imagine anyone preparing this caviar recipe with 8 ounces of Beluga caviar!
How Much Caviar to Buy
The amount of caviar to buy for your party depends on your budget, of course, and how you will serve it.
- Figure on 1/2 to 1 ounce of caviar per caviar enthusiast when served 'a la louche' (with only a spoon) or with few accroutrements.
Caviar goes a lot further when served in appetizers.
- One ounce of caviar (or 28.4 grams) yields about 10 1/2-teaspoon servings or 20 1/4-teaspoon servings. All you have to do is determine how many appetizers you'll need. The Party Food Planning Guide can help you with that.
More like the Caviar Recipes page: Caviar Buying Guide
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