How black caviar is produced in Israel

Black caviar, which was once one of the "most Russian" brands, is becoming an international commodity. So, a few years ago, Israel entered the top three world exporters of sturgeon caviar.

Israel and black caviar. Strange? Yes, but Israeli companies today supply sturgeon caviar to the USA, Europe and, most surprisingly, to Russia — a country that can be called the world center of sturgeon fish. Israel owes the creation of a special branch of fisheries — the breeding of sturgeon and the production of sturgeon caviar — to immigrants from Romania. In the 90s, in Kibbutz Dan, specializing in breeding various varieties of fish, they decided to grow trout and sturgeon.

1. The company was established in 1992, when Yigal Ben-Zvi brought fertilized sturgeon caviar from Russia. In the photo: a kibbutz worker holds a female sturgeon.

2. Now more than 70 thousand sturgeons live in several ponds of the kibbutz. Most of them are about 12 years old. Each fish brings about 2.5-3 kilograms of caviar. In the photo: reservoirs are ready to launch sturgeon.

3. The source material — fertilized caviar of sturgeon, or fry — was obtained from Astrakhan and other cities of the Caspian Sea. Large sturgeons were raised from them and, using modern methods of ichthyology and fish breeding, created such a volume that Israel became an exporter of sturgeon caviar, which is also called black caviar, under the brand name "Galilean caviar". In the photo: an indoor container for breeding sturgeon.

4. 40 million shekels have been invested in the project. The market is very promising, only in the last two years the volume of sales of Israeli caviar abroad has increased 10 times.

5. The Kaviar Ha-Galil company sold its caviar abroad for the first time in 2010, having received a profit of 15 million shekels for the year — more than a third of the funds invested over 10 years. In the photo: to preserve freshness, the fish is placed in containers with ice.

6. Salman Marhaj, an employee of a fish farm in Israel: "Before removing caviar, we arrange a check for all fish over 8 years old. We need to make sure that the caviar is ripe. We make a small incision in the abdomen and use a probe to extract the eggs. Here we see eggs less than three millimeters, we have to wait another six months. We release the fish back into the pool." In the photo: biologists engaged in checking the quality of caviar on the farm.

7. The company has passed the most difficult stage — the formation of a population of female sturgeon to reach puberty and the beginning of spawning. It takes 10-11 years. During this time, world prices for caviar have risen from 500 to 4000 dollars per kg. In the photo: the slaughtered fish is thoroughly washed before removing the caviar from it.

8. Israel is the only state in the world that, having no access to the Caspian Sea, exports sturgeon and black caviar.

9. Scientists are surprised — in the Caspian Sea, sturgeon begins to "spawn" only after reaching 13-15 years of puberty. Apparently, the climate of Israel, and perhaps some technologies that the Israelis do not disclose, have reduced this period by 3-4 years.

10. The main producers of black caviar are Russia and Iran. The main poachers in the Caspian Sea are Russians and Azerbaijanis. It is here, upon returning from spawning from the Volga to the Caspian Sea, the number of sturgeons is significantly reduced. Another 10% is mined in Southwestern France, in the rivers of the Bordeaux Valley, where sturgeon fish come to spawn. Poaching is severely punished in Iran. The sturgeon almost does not reach Turkmenistan.

11. Over the past 15 years, the population of sturgeon in the Caspian has decreased by 40 times. As a result of the environmental disaster, the price of a kilogram of caviar on the world market has increased from $ 500 to $ 5,000. The reason for the avalanche—like jump in prices is the ban on sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea basin, where 90% of all black caviar in the world is extracted. Since August 1, 2007, a ban on the extraction and sale of caviar has been imposed in Russia for 10 years. In the photo: black caviar close-up.

12. In the photo: a kibbutz employee (on the right) takes out caviar, and the second prepares it for packaging.

13. Black caviar actually has six color shades. This Israeli — grainy, with a bronze sheen — is one of the best on the planet.

14. In the photo: thousands of small eggs obtained from sturgeon fish.

15. In the photo: caviar is seasoned with salt and thoroughly mixed.

16. The Russian term "lightly salted" has been transformed into the Mallosol option. In the world of black gold specialists, this means "correct, top grade".

17. In Israel, sturgeon is not in demand at all, but all because sturgeon is a non—kosher fish. Kosher should have scales. Pictured: a kibbutz worker during a break.

18. In the photo: kibbutz director Yigal Ben Zvi demonstrates a jar of caviar weighing one ounce (28 grams), which costs $ 140.

19. In the photo: kibbutz director Yigal Ben Zvi holds one of the young sturgeons from his farm.

20. Packaging of caviar in cans.

21. World-famous chefs prepare an exclusive dinner for wealthy businessmen in Bangkok. On the table, of course, there is a voluminous jar of caviar.

22. Caviar is served at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, USA.

23. Crackers in the form of an Oscar statuette, which are served with salmon and caviar during the annual gala reception on the occasion of the Oscar ceremony in Hollywood.