Kaluga Hybrid Reserve Caviar

Kaluga Hybrid is a cross of the Kaluga sturgeon and the Amur sturgeon. It takes the large firm pearl from one parent and the clean finish from the other. Beluga has been banned from import into the United States since 2005, and Kaluga Hybrid is the closest thing you can legally buy here.

How it tastes

Buttery and clean. The brine is light, so you taste the egg rather than the salt. It finishes long without turning fishy, which is why it works on its own off a spoon and does not need blinis or creme fraiche to carry it.

What you see when you open it

Large separate pearls, glossy, dark olive through to brown black. They hold their shape on a spoon and they pop rather than smear. Colour shifts a little from one harvest to the next, which is normal for farmed sturgeon and not a fault.

Where it comes from

Farmed in China, where most of the world's Kaluga Hybrid is raised. Salted malossol, which means low salt, and packed into our own tins.

What comes with it

Mother of pearl spoons and a Caviar & Truffle opening key, in every size. Mother of pearl is not decoration. Metal reacts with caviar and leaves a tinny edge on the finish.

How to serve it

Potato chips, French baguette, creme fraiche and chives. Keep it simple and let the caviar do the work.

Keeping it

Store at -2 to +2 C, 28 to 38 F, in the coldest part of your fridge. A sealed tin holds about a week. Once opened, finish it within three days. Take it out twenty minutes before serving so it is not fridge cold.

Sizes

1 oz, 4 oz (115 g), 8 oz and 1 lb. Plan half an ounce per person for a proper serving rather than a taste.

Getting it to you

Same day in Los Angeles and Miami by courier. Overnight anywhere else in the United States, packed cold.

Buying for a company? See corporate caviar gifts. Serving a crowd? See caviar for weddings and private events.