By Devra First
Globe Staff December 17, 2008
Holiday season is caviar season. But can we still afford it? How can we make sure we're not buying caviar from overfished species? Rich Brauman is the founder and CEO of Somerville caviar company the Little Pearl, which sells sustainable American caviar. He answered our questions.
Q. Is the economy affecting caviar sales this year?
A. The feeling is caviar is recession-proof. With wine or luxury goods that are somewhat affordable, people want to celebrate occasionally.
Q. What kinds of caviar do you recommend for someone on a budget?
A. American sturgeon from Missouri is our best-selling one. It's $26 an ounce retail. That's a true sturgeon caviar. The white sturgeon from Idaho called T-Rex is really good. It's a close cousin of beluga. It's a great substitute for Caspian caviars. That's $70 an ounce.
Q. There are concerns about Caspian caviar due to overfishing. Are we getting any in the US?
A. Some, but less than last year, and significantly down from the 100-plus tons a decade ago. Russia has proposed banning sturgeon fishing for five years for all Caspian countries.
Q. Is there a black market for caviar?
A. There's some black market exporting. People sell paddlefish as other types of sturgeon. A little less than 10 years ago, people were still bringing in a lot.
Q. What's the difference between farmed and wild caviar?
A. It depends on how it's farmed. A lot depends on the water, how fresh the caviar is, and how well it's processed. From sites with cleaner water, it tastes cleaner. At some farms, fish eat both commercial feed and live natural feed, and that caviar tastes more wild. Some farms don't have that and the flavor is much simpler.
Q. How can we be sure caviar is sustainable?
A. Most US companies that have physical farm production operations are probably legitimate. Anything from Alaska is basically sustainable. It's hard. You have to trust the company you're buying it from has done its diligence. A lot of import companies don't care. They'll substitute products for different products.
Q. What do you like about caviar?
A. I like fishing and cooking, so a lot of my passions are involved with it. And I like the culture of parties and events. It goes really well with champagne. It's the ideal modern luxury product. It's very healthy, full of protein and good fat.
Q. Your website mentions the "caviar diet." What's that?
A. Chicken eggs are an ideal food, but this is slightly better: It has better fat and cholesterol. Salmon caviar has a lot of Omega-3s. The caviar diet is like South Beach with a lot of fish.
Q. Are you on it?
A. [Laughs.] I've been really bad. DEVRA FIRST
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