Are you thinking about throwing a party and want to impress your guests? Then bringing black caviar to the table is a must! In this article, we will show you how to serve black caviar at a party so that you and your guests can enjoy the exquisite taste of this rare delicacy.
So, how do you serve caviar at a party? Caviar at parties is served in special caviar bowls nested on crushed ice to keep the caviar chilled. Real gourmets eat caviar using silver, mother-of-pearl, or bone spoons. Caviar goes well with pancakes, boiled eggs, sour cream sauce with dill, and parsley. Black caviar is served with champagne, French Chablis wine, or chilled vodka.
Black caviar is eaten with small spoons – mother-of-pearl, silver, or bone. Do not eat black caviar from metal spoons, as it can get metallic notes.
Secrets of Serving Caviar at a Party
- Let the caviar warm up before serving. When you take the caviar jar from the fridge and put it in the serving bowl, let the delicacy sit for 15 minutes at room temperature. This way, the caviar will have a more complex taste – salty, fishy, nutty, and even slightly sweet.
- Avoid metal cutlery and bowls. When interacting with metal, black caviar will oxidize and can take on an unpleasant metallic taste. To keep the real taste of black caviar, serve it in glass, ceramic, crystal bowls, and bone or silver spoons.
- Get the right amount of black caviar. Yeah, black caviar is super expensive, but if you want to throw the best party and impress your guests, expect to get at least 30 grams of caviar per person. So if you have a party of 10 people, you will need to have 300 grams of caviar.
What Is Traditionally Served With Caviar?
Caviar can be served with white bread toasts with a little butter. Biscuits, crackers, and thin crispbread are also great. Tartlets and oxen are popular. An additional ingredient for such snacks is soft cheese and cream. Olives and herbs are usually used as decoration. Another great variation of the original appetizer is a sliced fresh cucumber or boiled quail eggs with black caviar.
An exquisite combination is caviar and oysters, served with lemon wedges. An open oyster is sprinkled with lemon juice, and a spoonful of caviar is placed on top. Sparkling dry wine or brut is in perfect harmony with such a dish. You can pay tribute to the Russian tradition and serve black caviar with pancakes and sour cream. A no less popular combination in Russia is caviar with bread and butter.
It is also believed that caviar in itself is a perfect snack for vodka. This Russian gastronomic tradition has gone far beyond the borders of Russia. However, another option that is popular in France is black caviar and champagne. The contrasting combination of sparkling wine and salty caviar makes the experience unforgettable.
What Condiments Are Served with Caviar?
Caviar’s mildly salty and nutty flavor goes well with many condiments. Here are some ideas you can use:
- Plain white toast or crackers. This is the most common black caviar condiment. White bread and crackers do not interrupt the exquisite flavor of black caviar and even enhance it.
- Blini (Crepes). In Slavic countries, blini are the most popular addition to black and red caviar. During the mass emigration of the Russian elite to Europe and America, the tradition of eating caviar with pancakes migrated to Europe and the New World.
- Danish butter. Danish butter has a different salt balance than what we most often find in supermarket butter. It may seem to you that there is not much difference in which oil to use with caviar, but when you feel the difference yourself, you will feel how much brighter the taste of caviar will become with Danish butter.
- Creme fraiche. Creme Fraiche is an alternative to butter. Crème fraîche is a French fermented milk product prepared from cow’s milk cream sourdough. The crème fraîche has a pleasant, slightly sour taste and is similar to sour cream in both taste and production technology. Creme Fraiche can be found plain or with the addition of garlic, spices, or herbs.
- Boiled eggs (white), sliced or whole, go very well with caviar, as they mainly act as a platform for serving a delicious dish, as they have practically no taste of their own.
- Chopped red onion can be used with caviar to highlight the salty undertones of black caviar. Be sure to use red onions in moderation, as it is easy to spoil the taste of caviar with onions.
- Smoked salmon is always a great compliment to caviar, which can be placed on top of a slice of fish or wrapped like in blini.
- Chives are another addition to caviar. But, just like red onions, it must be used in moderation since just a little overdoing can easily spoil the taste of caviar.