Five ways with... Caviar

Published on Friday 14 November 2008 11:34

CAVIAR, the salted roe (or eggs) of the sturgeon, the world's largest freshwater fish, was a favourite of the Russian tsars. The most prized of these fish come from the Caspian Sea, where four varieties of sturgeon can still be found.

Unfortunately, massive overfishing has made wild sturgeon caviar very rare. Luckily, there are decent farmed sturgeon caviars available from France and Scandinavian substitutes from salmon or lumpfish. The real thing is traditionally eaten off the back of a spoon, accompanied by ice-cold vodka.

1 BLINIS

3 eggs; 200ml buttermilk; 250ml milk; 100g plain flour; 120g buckwheat flour; pinch salt; 120g butter

Whisk the eggs and milks together. Combine the flours and salt then add to the mixture and whisk again. Heat a griddle pan over a medium heat. Once hot, coat with a thin film of butter. Drop a tablespoon of batter per blini on to the pan and cook for a minute until the base is golden-brown. Turn and cook for about 30 seconds on the other side. Remove to a plate and cover with a clean tea towel. This recipe makes about four dozen blinis. Cook four to six at a time, depending on the size of your pan. Add butter between each new batch. Once cool, serve with crme frache and caviar. Garnish with finely chopped chives.

2 SPAGHETTI WITH CAVIAR

200g fresh spaghetti; 150ml double cream; finely grated rind of 1 lemon; 25g unsalted butter; 50g caviar; flat-leaf parsley

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add a teaspoon of salt. Add the pasta. Bring to the boil and cook for two minutes, until al dente. Drain and return to the pan. Add the cream, lemon rind and butter and bring to the boil, mixing gently. Transfer to a serving bowl, carefully top with the caviar and decorate with the parsley.

3 CAVIAR AND SMOKED SALMON CANAPES

6 thin slices bread; 30g butter, melted; 3 tbsp sour cream; smoked salmon slices; 25g caviar; dill

Preheat the oven to 175C/gas 3. Lightly brush the bread on one side with the melted butter. Use a pastry cutter to cut four circles (about 40-50mm in diameter) from each slice. Arrange, butter-side up, on a baking sheet and place in the centre of the oven until pale golden-brown (about five to eight minutes). Remove and allow to cool completely. Top each toast with a thin scraping of sour cream. If the salmon is too thick, put it between two sheets of cling film and gently roll with a rolling pin to flatten. Cut into circles to fit your toasts. Lay on top of the cream-covered canaps, followed by a small spoon of caviar and garnished with a frond of dill.

4 SMOKED SALMON AND CAVIAR PIZZA

1 thin-crust pizza base (home-made or bought); 125ml crme frache; 100g smoked salmon slices; 1 cucumber sliced as thinly as possible; 25g caviar; chopped coriander

Bake the pizza base, remove and cool slightly. Spread with half the crme frache, then cover with the smoked salmon followed by the cucumber. Cut into wedges, then put a small dollop of the remaining crme frache on to each wedge, with a little caviar on top of this. Sprinkle with coriander.

5 STUFFED DEVILLED EGGS WITH CAVIAR

8 large hard-boiled eggs; 2 tbsp mayonnaise; 2 tbsp crme frache; 2 tsp lemon juice; 50g caviar; chives

Peel the eggs and slice them in half lengthways. Gently scoop out the yolks into a bowl and refrigerate them and the whites separately for at least an hour. Mash the yolks and add the mayonnaise and crme frache, mashing again to mix. Add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt and stir until well combined. Arrange the egg whites on a serving platter, slicing a sliver off the bottom to make them sit straight if necessary. Fill the whites with the yolk mixture, extending over part of the white. Sprinkle with finely chopped chives before topping with a little caviar.