Caviar has long been considered one of the most valuable fish delicacies. This is especially true for caviar of elite fish breeds, although products made from caviar of other fish are also not deprived of attention.
Black caviar, red caviar
Now it is no longer possible to establish when and where people first learned to salt caviar for future use. It has ceased to be a habitual food familiar from childhood, but has turned into an exquisite delicacy. The very rules of serving caviar exclusively on silver or cupronickel dishes, necessarily on ice, and so on, speak of a special attitude towards this product.
However, this is quite predictable. The fish is not getting bigger, but the number of its lovers is growing from year to year. Moreover, we are primarily talking about valuable species of salmon and sturgeon fish, although today other types of caviar, which were not previously paid much attention to, such as pike, whitefish, pollock, mullet and others, are very widely used in cooking.
This is not surprising, since in terms of food, and sometimes even taste, these products are not inferior to red and black caviar, but they are strikingly more pleasant in price.
Here it is - pressed caviar
Actually, when the conversation comes about pressed caviar, it should be understood that this is only sturgeon caviar, since only it can be both grainy and pressed. Salmon caviar or red caviar is prepared only granular.
That is, there is no mysterious fish "paus" and never has been. Just a payus, or yastyk, is nothing more than a shell or a bag in which the caviar is located. And caviar is salted right in it in a special hot (up to 40 ° C) brine. After a certain time, the caviar is freed from the film and lightly pressed.
Ready pressed caviar has the form of a uniform mashed potatoes intended primarily for sandwiches. High-quality pressed caviar has an even, soft, delicate slightly salted taste and a peculiar aroma.
Traditional pressed caviar is a very specific product, especially if we talk about the caviar that can be read about from Gogol or Gilyarovsky. Currently, the technology for the production of pressed caviar has undergone significant changes. In the century before last, the technology was due to the low speed of transportation and the lack of mobile refrigeration equipment.
Consequently, the caviar was salted in a stronger saline solution, and then repeatedly squeezed to remove the liquid. Thus, a product was obtained that can be cut like cheese, with a special sharp, pungent taste. It was also important that pressed caviar could be stored for months.
