Caviar isn't exactly a snack I have every day and admittedly, until recently, the only thing I knew for certain about it was that it was 'posh'.
Turns out there's plenty to learn about Caviar, including the proper way to eat it - off the back of your hand, just between your thumb and forefinger. King's Fine Food's Laura King MBE - aka the 'Queen of Caviar' - explained: "The reason you do that is nothing can pass the taste. You just get the taste of the caviar."
During our recent at-home tasting, Laura talked me through six of King's caviars, while offering a glimpse into the glamorous world of supplying caviar to the rich and famous. It's a far cry from my usual 11 am tea and biscuit. First up was the Beluga - a type of caviar three times the price of any other stocked by King's. This 'King of caviars' is particularly rare given that it takes the sturgeon 12 years to release their eggs. The 10-gram tin in front of me would usually set a customer back £60 - needless to say I made sure not to spill any. It's a life I could get used to.
Using my Caviar spoon, I dabbed a little on the back of my hand and 'gobbled' it right up as instructed. The Unagi flavour set my tastebuds singing - a rich, seaweed flavour and texture that melted into savoury cream on my tongue. It tasted like a drop of the very best soup I'd ever been served.
The Beluga melted on my tongue (Manchester Evening News)
'Gobbling' caviar from my hand took a little getting used to (Manchester Evening News)Laura told the Mirror: "A lot of people say, 'Oh, you pop it. But that means it's pasteurised Caviar, so it should be soft, very subtle and easy on the palate." There's not much Laura doesn't know about caviar - but her journey to becoming a world-renowned expert has been far from smooth. Having started out as a journalist for the Middlesex Chronicle, Laura switched to a career in buying and purchasing after being cruelly told her writing was 'turgid and wooden'. She ended up running the European purchasing department of Philippine Airlines - where one of the buyers bought caviar, before moving over to Air Europe.
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But when he business hit problems, Laura was left in need of a job and in 1991 successfully applied for a head of sales position at a caviar company. She was, however, far from a connoisseur at this point. Laura confessed: "The first time I saw caviar, I thought, 'that's disgusting'. Laura was soon won over, however, and when the company went under, she decided to strike out on her own - all while raising her then nine-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.
Nowadays, the all-female run King's - which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year - supplies establishments such as The Dorchester, Fortnum & Mason, Claridges, The Ritz, Annabel's, Scotts and the Lanesborough. Laura is still very much at the helm, with daughter Holly King - the Caviar Princess - following in her mother's foodie footsteps as the company's sales director.
True to its regal name, King's had a Royal warrant for the late Queen Elizabeth II, supplying chocolate and nuts, as well as fine caviar for extra special guest visits. The company, which mainly supplies Buckingham Palace, has just applied for a renewed warrant for the new King Charles III, which they will hear back about in September.
Shedding some light on how the Royal family enjoys their caviar, Laura revealed that Queen Elizabeth "was very conservative in her likes and she was very traditional." The late Duke of Edinburgh even took part in a caviar tasting with King's, with the products sent out to him at the cottage on the Sandringham estate, complete with notes written by Laura. Laura continued: "He was a big foodie, so he really liked caviar. The Princess Margaret loved caviar. And I think the King really likes caviar.
A 10-gram tin of Beluga would set you back £60 (Manchester Evening News)Next up, I tried the Oscietra - retailing at about £35 per tin. Less salty than the Beluga, this one has a wonderfully buttery taste that I could see pairing beautifully with a fresh slice of bread. The Platinum - a £20 hybrid of two different surgeons - was also delicious - ever so slightly briny and buttery soft. A favourite among London chefs, this dark, glossy caviar would go down a real treat with a cold glass of something bubbly.
When it comes to dreamy - non-alcoholic - pairings, Laura advises egg, remarking that "Chopped egg, chives, lemon juice, were devised by the Americans to take away the taste of very poor quality caviar." However, she believes simplicity is best, with overpowering lemon juice best avoided. For some, a boiled egg topped with caviar is pretty unbeatable, while others prefer it in an omelette.
Although she regards Melba toast as a bit 'too crispy' to make a truly good caviar base, Laura does recommend adding a few pearls to Jersey Royal potatoes, or a piece of French bread. Offering one of her own favourite combos, Laura suggested: "If you go and get yourself some blinis, and have a warm blini, and then put crème fraîche on top, and then the caviar, that is absolutely delicious." Somewhat surprisingly, there are also a number of easy comfort foods that can be elevated with a touch of caviar - including a good old-fashioned plate of chips.
Caviar makes a decadently tasty addition to a number of potato dishes - including chips (Manchester Evening News)Laura went on to recall a memorably 'hilarious' - yet ultimately ingenious - incident during an appearance on The Big Breakfast with Gaby Roslin some 35 years ago. She remembered: "I'd just come back from Russia with the freshest caviar, and there was the 'family of the week'. We just recently found the footage, it was really funny. And the family of the week said, 'It would go really well with chips'. Of course, it's a potato!"
Anecdotally, from using my leftover caviar, I can attest that it goes beautifully both with a fluffy jacket potato and a slice of margarita pizza. The salty pearls melting into the hot cheese brought a moment of much-needed mid-week bliss - and were a far better option than anchovies I have to say.
However, perhaps the most interesting combination has to be white chocolate topped with Sevruga caviar - a Heston Blumenthal combination that I was initially a little bit sceptical about trying. Beloved by sweet-toothed sorts the world over, white chocolate brings to mind sugary childhood treats, while Sevruga - with its lingering oceanic aftertaste - is unabashedly adult. I just couldn't imagine two such separate entities combined in one mouthful.
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Laura, who has a personal preference for Sevruga, explained: "Heston Blumenthal at the Fat Duck years ago decided that this was the best chocolate and the best caviar to have together. And a restaurant in his village copied him about two weeks later, so he took it off the menu."
Chocolate and caviar is a favourite of renowned chef, Heston Blumenthal (Manchester Evening News)
There are a few 'red flags' to look out for when shopping for caviar (Manchester Evening News)I've personally never tasted anything quite like it, but the flavour gulf - so jarringly vast on paper - was beautifully complimentary - the perfect example of two ends of a spectrum colliding in a satisfying, and not to mention sensational, taste explosion. If, like me, you simply can't get enough of salted caramel ice cream, then this will likely elevate all your expectations going forward. Absolutely divine.
National Caviar Day coming up (July 18), provides the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with this dish - but how do you know if you've got a good batch in front of you? According to Laura, a good caviar should always "be soft, be subtle, and delicious". And there are a few red flags to look out for if you've found yourself with a low-quality tin.
Laura warned: "The biggest enemy of caviar is air. If you leave this caviar out for a long time, it will get very oily, so it must be kept in the fridge. So you want with caviar to be able to see the eggs. They're not mushy, there's not lots of oil." Despite what some may imagine, Laura advises that good caviar should have 'virtually no smell', and indeed each of the tins I opened had a very clean, barely-there scent.
Laura advises keeping your eyes shut during a tasting (Manchester Evening News)She added: "Smell and look are the important things for caviar. And obviously the taste." Bitter or sour flavours mean you've likely been given old caviar - the opposite of what you want from a delicacy best served fresh and chilled. Upon the advice of Laura, I fastened each of the tins tightly and wrapped each one in clingfilm before popping them in the fridge - allowing for about seven days' worth of re-tasting.
Of course, developing a sophisticated palate is a skill that takes time and practice - and one that Laura has honed thanks to a chef friend. Passing on his wisdom, Laura shared: "He'll say, 'Laura, just shut your eyes. Just really try and hone in on what that taste is and then go back to it. So taste it, and then leave it, have some water. And then try and go back and taste again and see what it resembles. So is it saline, is it butter, is it lobster?"
I was surprised by how varied caviar actually is (Manchester Evening News)For a product that is often spoken of in such homogenous terms, perhaps what I found most surprising was how distinct each type of caviar tasted. There really is a caviar for everybody, from the firmer Imperial with its ever so slightly sweet almond notes to the gloriously nutty Golden Oscietra - my personal favourite.
By the time I'd tried all six caviars a good few times, I was beginning to feel more at ease with the food, which admittedly feels a little daunting to get your head around at first, especially if you don't view yourself as the 'Caviar sort'.
Addressing this sense of foodie imposter syndrome, Laura has urged: "Make sure it's reputable. Don't be scared of it. Don't be scared of caviar. And you know what? It tastes nice. And for a special treat, if you've got a lovely birthday party, you know, your grandmother'' a hundred. Something lovely with champagne and crème fraîche blinis with caviar on top. Oh my God, I think it's very special, and sometimes it's just lovely to have a treat isn't it?"
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