absolute CAVIAR

My brother gave me a gift card from absolute caviar last Christmas. Most of my friends do not eat caviar, but I learned that Zohreh and her husband Mike like caviar. So last Saturday, I had Zohreh accompany me to finally get some. I figured that if I was sharing it with them, she better do a little work and come with me. The place is what you would expect a caviar store to be; classy and decorated nicely with bright blue cabinets set on a white wall with a Sturgeon on the wall, no less. 

We met Mariya, the owner. Her husband Alex is in their other store in Sherman Oaks. Mariya was such a delight. She offered us caviar tasting, which was so interesting. We only know of Russian and Iranian caviar, and we were both not aware that Italy and China are also caviar producers. 

We first tried the Siberian Sturgeon Black Caviar, which was so creamy that Zohreh said it reminded her of avocado, and as soon as she said that, I had to agree. It melted in your mouth, and there was not much texture, almost mousse-like but delicious. The second one was the Kaluga which was also delicious. This was close to what you get from the Beluga Sturgeon, hence Kaluga. The Ossetra Black Caviar from Italy was our favorite because it had more of a texture. It was smokey and tasted like truffle. The last one we tasted was the Sevruga, the typical caviar that was very salty, which I also liked since I love salt!

I decided to get the Ossetra Black Caviar and the very creamy Siberian Sturgeon Caviar. We were so impressed with Mariya on how she educated us about caviar, and she had me and Zohreh pick a caviar teaspoon each to go with our caviar. Mariya packed our caviar in a cute bag with ice packs to keep them cold.

I served them with little crackers, boiled some baby potatoes, added crème fraîche, and topped them with caviar. Zohreh, her husband Mike, and I finished everything. We, of course, had to have good Champagne with it, so a bottle of Taittinger went very well with it. Zohreh didn't think that would fill us up, so she made some delicious Lasagna. 

The next time you want a little bit of luxury, treat yourself with some caviar from absolute caviar. They have two locations; one in Beverly Hills and one in Sherman Oaks, California. 

Thank you, Mariya, for everything.