How caviar is produced. How black caviar is produced in Belarus. Downhole method of obtaining caviar

Perhaps for many people a jar of red caviar is associated with the holiday.
But in fact, before reaching your table, there is no holiday around caviar... on the contrary, it is not easy work.
I'll try to briefly show you a few photos along with the attachment.

The bulk of all red caviar is obtained in Kamchatka and Sakhalin (Pacific Ocean, Okhotsk and Bering Seas). When the fishing season begins, the fleet rushes to the fishing grounds. In my particular case, the process is shown on the receiving and processing vessel BATM (a large autonomous refrigerated trawler), which received fish from fixed seines on the western coast of Kamchatka.

From fixed seines, catch fishermen deliver their catch to the receiving and processing vessel.

Cutting line. Here the fish are fished - the caviar is placed in blue traps on top, the intestines in one hole, the fish in another. Gutted fish flow through trays into the plant onto the deck below, the guts overboard. At the factory, gutted fish are washed, sorted by size, frozen and packed into containers. Ready for freezer hold.

After salting, the caviar is packaged in small baskets, which are placed in a centrifuge, where 10-15 minutes of “squeezing” makes the caviar almost dry and it goes to the master’s table to add vegetable oil and preservatives. Here is the final control of cleanliness and quality on the table illuminated from below.

A filling table with bottom lighting so that the thickness of the caviar is visible and “foreign bodies” (pieces of blood, film, etc.) are clearly visible. On this table, the master adds and mixes the already salted and centrifuged caviar vegetable oil and antiseptics. Previously (before 2010) they used methenamine and sorbic acid, now some more “healthy” rubbish. Before packing into containers, the master spreads the “product” thinly with a white spatula and makes sure that everything is clean. In the photo, he just noticed something and selects it.

Imitated caviar is a high-quality fake of natural caviar. The product is harmless if it does not contain synthetic dyes. Artificial caviar is attractive not only in appearance, but also because of its low cost. There is still a myth that the product is made from petroleum. But this is absolutely not true.

Synthetic caviar: history of appearance

Back in the days Soviet Union real caviar it was very expensive. As a result, dissatisfaction began to grow among people who were unable to purchase the delicacy. And scientists began to work on creating an imitation of caviar. The first batches were made from real protein. Among the ingredients were food additives, chicken eggs and vegetable oil.

But such artificial caviar It was quite tasteless and looked very vaguely like the real thing. Over time, new manufacturing technologies appeared. The method of creating caviar using gelatin began to be used. In addition to this, such recipes contain milk, algae extracts, protein supplements, etc. This technology is called “protein technology” and is currently considered outdated.

There are other manufacturing methods that do not contain protein substances or only in small quantities. In any case, the final product came to be called imitated by copying the appearance of the natural one.

What is artificial caviar made from?

What is imitation red caviar made from? Formulations in which the protein component was used have long since become a thing of the past. Thanks to her, the eggs acquired the necessary density. Modern product compositions contain gelling agents. Extracts of brown and red algae and agar are used as thickeners. They not only allow you to achieve a consistency similar to real caviar, but also reduce the calorie content of the product.

Red and black caviar gets its color from natural dyes. These are paprika and vegetable charcoal. But sometimes artificial colors are used. The constant ingredients in imitation caviar are fish meat, broth and fat. Thanks to them, it appears necessary taste and aroma.

How is artificial caviar made?

Imitated red and black caviar is produced using different technologies:

Protein method. First, a special mixture was prepared, which included egg white, culinary dressing and coloring. Then a drop of such a mass fell into a heated water-oil emulsion or vegetable oil. The protein coagulated and a ball was formed that looked like an egg. It had a dense structure. The product could be given any color and taste. To increase shelf life, such simulated caviar was pasteurized.
Gelatin method. This method allows you to obtain simulated caviar from various protein fillers: milk, soy, etc. They are mixed with gelatin, and the resulting mixture is heated. Then it is injected into vegetable oil at a temperature of 5 to 15 degrees. Caviar is produced in special column-shaped installations. The taste of the product is imparted by chopped herring.
Method using seaweed. This method differs from the two protein methods described above. Until recently, it was considered the most promising, but more convenient and modern technologies have already appeared.

Types and appearance

Imitated caviar is available for sale in many types. They differ in the raw materials used, recipes and manufacturing method.

Protein caviar is obtained on the basis of gelatin and is a ball containing homogeneous contents. This is a white or beige kernel with a dark colored shell. It is fragile and allows moisture to pass into the core and back. Because of this, the eggs do not have a stable structure.

This product is different from other types good taste, color and composition and is most suitable for sturgeon caviar. The plastic structure allows you to imitate lopanetz and crushed balls, getting the effect that bursts in your mouth.

Artificial caviar, which is produced using modern technologies, is very similar to natural caviar from fish of different breeds. The appearance and taste of the product are as close to natural as possible.

Benefits and harms

Imitated caviar has long been in great demand. The benefits and harms of this product are as follows:

Gelling agents reduce the calorie content of the product, but at the same time increase its satiety due to swelling granules. For those who are on a diet, this good option. However, there is also the opposite side. Imitated caviar contains a lot of salt, so the body can be disrupted. This leads to swelling and difficulties in removing waste and toxins.
Fatty acid and Omega-3 are beneficial. These components help maintain the body's youth, strengthen the immune system and force cells to fight cancer. It increases beneficial properties product.
The controversial components of artificial caviar are milk and citric acid. Most often they do not cause allergies, but itching, irritation and rashes may still occur in some consumers. The most active of the acids is lactic. Its excess can lead to disruption of the nervous system and deterioration of muscle activity.

How to distinguish between real and artificial caviar?

How to distinguish natural caviar from artificial? There are several ways. The simplest one is in terms of taste. The imitation one is always saltier and gives off flavors. When natural caviar granules burst, they leave moisture and a salty taste on the tongue. There will also be a faint fishy smell.

You can distinguish natural caviar from simulated caviar using boiling water. Hot liquid is poured into a glass. Several eggs drop into it. Real caviar will not dissolve, but will only turn pale.

High-quality analogues of real caviar

Imitated sturgeon caviar is produced using new technology. As a result, the finished product has improved taste. The color has become closer to natural sturgeon caviar. The structure of the simulated product has acquired plasticity. This allows you to feel the eggs bursting in your mouth. Only a natural product has this effect.

New types of caviar are produced in pressed or granular form. This was impossible to do using previous technologies. The composition of the new type of simulated caviar partially includes hydrobionts, real caviar and sturgeon meat. The product is manufactured on special equipment. As a result, artificial caviar acquires many shades that are characteristic only of natural sturgeon.

Choice

Imitated red caviar can be colored not with natural dyes, but with synthetic ones. The composition must be indicated on each product package. It notes which baptisms were used in production.

Caviar with butter cream is in great demand. But all supplements are made from chemicals. " Buttercream" in caviar is made from water, flavorings, fats and flavor enhancers. All these components are harmful to the body. When choosing caviar, it is best to purchase homogeneous caviar.

When purchasing, consumers often try to buy a product in a glass container. But caviar is also perfectly stored in polyethylene. Therefore, there is simply an overpayment for packaging. But you need to pay attention that there are no voids or liquid under the film. Artificial caviar should not be hard, but simply dense.

Storage

The product should only be stored in the refrigerator. Expiration dates are always written on the packages. But artificial caviar in an open container can be stored even in the refrigerator for no more than twelve hours.

Is it possible to make caviar yourself?

Imitated caviar can be prepared even at home. To do this you will need:

gelatin (it can be replaced with semolina in the amount of 200 g);
500 g salted herring (can be replaced with other fish);
200 ml tomato juice;
200 ml sunflower oil;
4 onions.

Cooking method

Mix in a saucepan tomato juice and oil and bring to a boil. Then semolina is added there. To avoid the appearance of lumps, the cereal is constantly stirred. The mixture is boiled for 7 minutes, then removed from the heat and cooled. At this time, the fish is cleaned and ground through a meat grinder (without bones). The peel is removed from the onion. Then the heads are also passed through a meat grinder.

It turns out minced fish, which is thoroughly mixed. The mass is added to the cooled semolina mixture. Everything is thoroughly mixed and infused for 15 minutes. The mass is then passed through a granulator. The result is a lot of small eggs, which are colored in the desired color using natural dyes.

They say about Sakhalin that everyone there eats red caviar with ladles from buckets. For breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, this is a myth and a story: red caviar is not included in the daily diet of the island’s inhabitants. They, just like us, people from the mainland, eat it on holidays and to suit their mood. The fact is that caviar here is not at all as accessible as we imagine. I had the opportunity to visit a fish factory in the vicinity of the city of Poronaysk. After this report, you will either love caviar even more, or stop eating it once and for all.

There are many fishing enterprises on Sakhalin, several dozen. There are major players in this market who transport products to Russian regions and even sell abroad, and there are those who work for the region. There are also smugglers, of course.

The work here is seasonal, the peak is in the summer, when the salmon fishing season is in progress. Then dozens of fishing schooners go to sea, and dozens of aunties in caps separate the wheat from the chaff, that is, the caviar from the fish.

Can you imagine that somewhere fish eggs are thrown into the trash? But not in Russia, this is ours national dish, which is known throughout the world. By the way, some fools, on the contrary, throw away the fish, leaving only the caviar. As a rule, these are poachers; the fish requires further processing and storage, but they have neither the time nor the desire.

The first stage is just separation. The belly is cut open with a knife, the raw caviar is carefully removed and placed in buckets.

After this, the fish goes to one workshop, the raw fish to another.

Something like this. Sorry, it may not be a very appetizing process, but it's a fact of life. For some reason, vegetarians continue to eat fish, although they feel sorry for the animals.

On some days, so much fish comes to the factory that it is simply piled on the floor.

The raw material is collected and sifted in a colander.

Then it is sifted several more times through a special sieve.

Almost ready caviar. Now she needs to defend herself. It seems that the caviar is also salted.

And then they are packaged in jars. It is best to buy plastic ones; there are no preservatives, but such a product does not last very long. The freshest and best, of course, is in the Far East. Until it reaches central Russia...in tin cans not caviar, but tin.

In addition to caviar, this factory also produces everyone’s favorite dried fish snacks. Here the process is much simpler. They caught it and removed the insides.

Hung out to dry.

Everything for you, lovers of beer with vobla. Knock on the table - don't knock!

This salmon might be used to make sushi. What rolls on Sakhalin are something! Nothing in common with what we have in Moscow.

Or maybe they’ll make dried salmon slices. Tasty too

“A person who eats black caviar feels his inner strength. He feels so much that he even asserts himself psychologically and feels that he deserves it.” This is the opinion of the manager of a new Belarusian producer of black caviar.

Today we will learn how the delicacy is made in Belarus for 1000 euros per kilogram, why it cannot be eaten with a metal spoon, what the love for caviar and the love for art have in common.

At the end of June, the fashionable metropolitan establishment Bistro de Luxe began serving the most expensive breakfast in the country - pancakes with creme fraiche and 30 grams of caviar accompanied by a glass of ice-cold champagne. The dish costs 100 rubles (a million in old ones). This is the price for the opportunity to assert yourself and feel your inner strength.

We have two lines of caviar - Original and Premium. The taste of the Original line is distinguished by some tartness and a spicy tint, which, however, does not stick to the mouth. To me, Original seems to be the most classic product, right for gentlemen and connoisseurs. The Premium line has a velvety and crystallized pure taste. It is preferable for ladies or for those who have never tried black caviar.

The manager of Admiral Husso, Vladimir Dovgyallo, discusses the nuances of the taste of caviar with the same inspiration with which perfumers talk about their fragrances, and artists talk about their canvases. Ordinary people, listening to them, usually scratch their heads in bewilderment.

But these arguments are clear to experts. For example, Michelin-starred chef Fabrizio Girasoli loved Belarusian caviar so much that he wrote a letter of recommendation in which he advised his colleagues to use it in their dishes and promised to do it himself.

Sturgeon sanatorium

Black caviar is synonymous with luxury. Even in the workshop where it is produced, you look for marble fountains and gilding. But this is an ordinary technological premises on the outskirts of Fanipol. The main place in it is occupied by baths with sturgeon. Now the fish live in “sanatorium” conditions: ozonated water, three meals a day and twilight (sturgeon do not like direct sunlight) - and in a few months they will be turned into caviar, balyk, hot smoked steaks and a soup set.

The production floor is as noisy as a waterfall. These are baths filled with giant (the largest specimen weighs 17 kg!) sturgeon

The sturgeon age is approximately equal to that of a human, and sexual maturity in females occurs between the ages of 8 and 21 years. The production raises its herds in the European Union, and brings them to Fanipol for foster care. Here the fish stay for 3-6 months until they reach the desired stage of maturity.

The sturgeon beats its tail aggressively when taken out of the water. A girl of average build would hardly be able to hold him
The fish are brought in a special live-fishing machine. The sturgeon will spend the first month in “quarantine” under the supervision of fish farmers. Afterwards they will be transplanted into ordinary baths and set up in “sanatorium-resort” conditions.

The most important thing is to achieve quality in each jar so that it can even be placed in the Louvre. Next to a work of artistic art, put a work of gastronomic art, Vladimir Dovgyallo fantasizes.

The water is so clean it cleans the fish

It is for the sake of product quality that the manufacturer has set up a complex water filtration system. Initially it comes from the city water supply, but before entering the fish baths it is saturated with ozone. This procedure cleans sturgeon from foreign tastes and odors.

There is residual ozone in the water in concentrations that fish can normally tolerate. It turns out that she lives in such clean water that she herself becomes clean, explains chief fish farmer Sergei Sventorzhitsky.

The water leaving the baths is purified again. First, in the sump, where the largest particles of dirt remain. Then a drum with the finest metal mesh sifts out mechanical suspensions. At the end there is cleaning with bioelements. These are plastic wheels, on the edges of which special bacteria live. They decompose the nitrogen group of elements and phosphates - waste products of fish. Then the water goes into the second settling tank and, having been purified, is again ozonized and fills the baths. And so on in a circle.

Biofilter. Similar installations work at wastewater treatment plants, only there the “wheels” are much larger

The ozone generator is the heart of production. The only thing that matters is the pumps. They should never stop to keep the water circulating. If suddenly they become, our fish will live for an hour, because there will be no oxygen. Without ozone, it will last for several days, says Sergei Sventorzhitsky.

A container where water comes from the water supply and from where pumps pump it out first to the ozone generator, and then to the baths

Now there are about 300 sturgeon swimming in the baths, each weighing about 8 kg. They have a full three meals a day. The inhabitants of the baths consume 50 kg of food per day. It is made from fishmeal and contains a lot of protein. This combination of nutrients accelerates metabolic processes in the fish’s body and forms caviar.

Each fish has a tag with a number. Fish farmers have a database in which all sturgeon are registered.

Downhole method of obtaining caviar

Once every 2-3 weeks, sturgeons undergo an ultrasound to determine their stage of maturity.
- The closer to spawning, the richer the eggs are in nutrients. We need to catch the moment so that it does not go into the spawning stage and become unsuitable for food, but so that it has maximum food maturity for humans,” Sergei Sventorzhitsky runs a scanner along the belly of the fish.

When a fish farmer needs to remove a fish from a bath, he puts on special pimply gloves. The fact is that sturgeons have no scales, their body is covered with mucus

If the eggs are large, their contours are clearly visible on the monitor and they are lined up in rows, then the sturgeon is “ripe”. Using a special probe - a long thick needle - a sample of caviar is taken from the fish. The fish farmer will examine it under a microscope and determine whether it is time to prepare the sturgeon for slaughter.
There are two methods for preparing sturgeon caviar. The first one is “milking”. It keeps the fish alive and allows you to get eggs from one individual up to 6 times. However, the sturgeon is given hormonal injections, which worsens the taste of the product and its nutritional properties. With the “downhole” method, hormones are not used. You can only get caviar once, but it will be tastier, healthier and more expensive.

To study the eggs, the fish farmer cuts them at the “pole” into two halves. Inside there is black caviar - white

It was, is and will be. There is a predator and there is a prey. If there is a bull, there is sausage. We do not take fish from the wild or exterminate the population. If we destroyed nature, that would be bad,” Vladimir Dovgyallo argues in favor of the slaughter method.

"Holy" soup set

There is a blue butterfly glued to the door of the killing room. Not for the sake of beauty - it drives away flies. It's only 8 degrees Celsius inside and completely sterile. Slaughter master Alexander Gurshchenkov is dressed in plastic shoe covers, a robe, gloves and a cap. The glasses sparkle on the cap.

The fish must be sent to slaughter alive. To do this, she is stunned in advance with a small sledgehammer. Alexander hangs the fish on a hook and cuts the artery to drain the blood. Then he opens the belly to take out the egg - a bubble with caviar. It weighs on average 700−800 grams.

Sledgehammer for stunning fish

Then the sturgeon carcass is sent to the freezer. Then it will be used to prepare balyk, hot smoked sturgeon, or form a soup set. By the way, in the near future the production workshop will be consecrated according to Orthodox custom, and delicacies from the brand will become “holy.”

Not everyone has the money to buy caviar and say that he is a tsar, a Russian tsar. Not everyone even has enough money to buy balyk or hot smoked steak, because it will cost money. To get closer, even psychologically, to the level of the elite, you can start with soup set, says Vladimir Dovgyallo.

Containers for caviar in the sterilizer

1000 euros per kilogram - extremely cheap

The process of preparing caviar is quite simple. The yashtyk is rubbed through a sieve into a bowl. Then the caviar must be washed with sterile water, weighed and salt added.
- Our product is completely natural, without any additives or preservatives. Only salt and selected caviar,” says the manager.

Tool for preparing black caviar

The eggs will be salted for some time - and the delicacy is ready. Now its name is: IKRA, and the price is 1000 euros per kilogram.
This is extremely cheap, says Vladimir Dovgyallo.

There is a level of smuggling price - 1000 dollars. Our caviar cannot even be compared in quality to smuggled caviar, but our price is not far off, because psychologically people are afraid to overpay if they don’t understand it.
Vladimir sees the buyer as “a man who has a private jet.” This is a businessman who can afford business flights, who has a premium car and a country house. But income level is not the only distinguishing feature of the consumer of Belarusian caviar.

Vladimir Dovgyallo does not name the volume of investments, but says that the payback period of the project is at least 2 years

This is a person who strives for beauty. He may be interested in painting, he is probably interested in a healthy lifestyle. This is an educated, cultured person. He has family values. It is tradition that defines the elite class. Who do I consider the elite? The laws of redistribution of money by Karl Marx have not been repealed. Even if the money has been redistributed, there are people who love handmade things and treat relics with respect. They are the ones we see as our consumers.

The most expensive caviar in the world costs about 100 thousand dollars per kg. It is called “golden” because of its light golden, almost white color. Rare albino sturgeon lay such caviar

Simply put, the buyer of the product is a wealthy, educated esthete. The consumption of black caviar should also be aesthetic, the manager insists. It needs to be cooled and washed down with dry French champagne or ice-cold vodka, very high quality. Eating buckets of black caviar is a sign of bad taste, not luxury, assures Vladimir Dovgyallo. But he also does not recommend straining it one gram at a time.

We have an idea that 20 grams of caviar is enough for have a nice dinner. But there are norms of gastronomic etiquette that we did not invent. I will refer to the famous caviar house of Armen Petrosyan in Paris. 50 grams is suitable for one person per dose. You can taste these 50 grams, understand the taste of caviar and even have a snack. 50 grams for two or three people - just to tease. 125 grams is considered the norm for a meal for two.

Elite caviar, export

The design capacity of the enterprise is about 25-30 tons of sturgeon delicacies and 4 tons of black caviar per year. Already now, black and gold “powder compacts” from the Belarusian manufacturer can be found in duty free and some Minsk stores. But this is not a mass product, warns Vladimir Dovgyallo, and is export-oriented.
The Belarusian producer plans to supply its caviar all over the world. For starters, to Switzerland and Austria, “where people move between castles.” Negotiations on this issue have already taken place. There is interest in the product in Shanghai as well. In the East, gifts to business partners are part of business etiquette. A jar of caviar can be a worthy gift for a respectable person, so Admiral Husso has big plans for the Asian market.

As for Russia, people there don’t strive for quality, they want something cheaper. We have a very expensive production technology, our product is worth the money. But, of course, in Russia there are 0.5% of people who care about their health, understand works of art, go to the Philharmonic, and are pedantic about little things. “They are our audience,” says the manager.
The export price of Belarusian caviar will be twice as high as the domestic price - 2,000 euros per kilogram.

If you paid 50 euros for 50 grams of such caviar, here's some free advice from Vladimir Dovgyallo - buy the right spoon. It can be stone, wood or even plastic. You should not wrap black caviar with a regular metal utensil: metal oxidizes the caviar and spoils the taste. Bon appetit.

But everyone who flies from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is sure to take several kilograms with them to family and friends. This is true.

I had the opportunity to visit a fish factory in the vicinity of the city of Poronaysk. After this report, you will either love caviar even more, or stop eating it once and for all.

1 There are many fishing enterprises on Sakhalin, several dozen. There are major players in this market who transport products to Russian regions and even sell abroad, and there are those who work for the region. There are also smugglers, of course.

2 I visited a medium-sized factory where about fifty people work.

3 Work here is seasonal, the peak is in the summer, when the salmon fishing season is in progress. Then dozens of fishing schooners go to sea, and dozens of aunties in caps separate the wheat from the chaff, that is, the caviar from the fish.

4 Can you imagine that somewhere fish eggs are thrown into the trash? But not in Russia, this is our national dish, which is known throughout the world. By the way, some fools, on the contrary, throw away the fish, leaving only the caviar. As a rule, these are poachers; the fish requires further processing and storage, but they have neither the time nor the desire.

5 The first stage is just separation. The belly is cut open with a knife, the raw caviar is carefully removed and placed in buckets.

6 After this, the fish goes to one workshop, the raw fish goes to another.

7 Something like this. Sorry, it may not be a very appetizing process, but it's a fact of life. For some reason, vegetarians continue to eat fish, although they feel sorry for the animals.

8 On some days, so much fish comes to the factory that they simply pile it on the floor.

9 The raw material is collected and sifted in a colander.

10 Then it is sifted several more times through a special sieve.

11 I don’t remember anymore, the essence of it all technological process, so I can lie shamelessly and make mistakes. I took these photos in the summer of 2012, during my first trip to Sakhalin Island.

12 Almost ready caviar. Now she needs to defend herself. It seems that the caviar is also salted.

13 And then they are packaged in jars. It is best to buy plastic ones; there are no preservatives, but such a product does not last very long. The freshest and best, of course, is in the Far East. Until it reaches central Russia...it’s not caviar in tin cans, but tin.

14 In addition to caviar, this factory also produces everyone’s favorite dried fish snacks. Here the process is much simpler. They caught it and removed the insides.

15 They hung it up to dry.

16 Everything for you, lovers of beer with vobla. Knock on the table - don't knock!

17 Perhaps this salmon will be used to make sushi. What rolls on Sakhalin are something! Nothing in common with what we have in Moscow.

18 Or maybe they’ll make dried salmon slices. Tasty too.

19 For some reason, the factory also makes dumplings. And made from beef.

20 This is a non-core asset.

21 Herring, flounder, salmon, mackerel. Pink salmon, whale, coho salmon, sockeye salmon, chinook salmon. Dried, fresh, any fish.

22 But the girl can no longer look at the fish.

23 Well, will you eat caviar after this story? :)

Taken from macos in The homeland of red caviar

If you have a production or service that you want to tell our readers about, write to me - Aslan ( [email protected] ) Lera Volkova ( [email protected] ) and Sasha Kuksa ( [email protected] ) and we will make the best report, which will be seen not only by readers of the community, but also by the site http://bigpicture.ru/ and http://ikaketosdelano.ru

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