In order to produce premium caviar, it is very important to maintain optimal water quality and temperature and to use the right feed – obviously the food and conditions that sturgeon receive are key factors affecting the quality of caviar. Equally important are the processes of extraction, processing, salting, packaging and storage of this delicate product. Gourmet House Caviar is a family business that has been in business since 1965. Starting out in Germany, the company has gradually become one of the leaders in the caviar industry on the international stage, including in the UK. The Gourmet House Caviar concept is built on a rich and deep knowledge of caviar making, which has been passed down within the company from generation to generation for over 150 years.

The farming and harvesting of Caviar is a highly sophisticated, multi-year process that requires intense patience and precision. Because wild Sturgeon are strictly protected under CITES regulations to prevent extinction, virtually all caviar today comes from land-based aquaculture.

Here is how the farming and harvesting process works from start to finish.

 Farming

• Long Maturation: Sturgeon are slow-growing fish. A female sturgeon must be raised for 9 to 20 years before she is mature enough to produce high-quality eggs.
• Controlled Environment: Modern farms use advanced aquaculture systems (often Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, or RAS) to monitor water temperature, oxygen levels, and purity. This mimics the pristine natural rivers and seas they native to, ensuring the fish remain healthy and stress-free.
• Premium Diet: The fish are fed a carefully calibrated, nutrient-rich diet. Because sturgeons are bottom-feeders, the cleanliness of the water and the quality of the feed directly impact the final flavour of the caviar, preventing any muddy or bitter undertones.

 Monitoring Maturity

• Ultrasound Scanning: Around years 7 to 8, farmers use ultrasound technology to determine the sex of the fish (mating males are separated or sold for meat). As the females age, regular ultrasounds track egg development.
• Biopsy: Once the ultrasound shows optimal egg size, a tiny, harmless biopsy is often performed. A technician extracts a few eggs to check their size, colour, firmness, and fat content to ensure they are at peak maturity. Harvesting too early results in fragile, underdeveloped eggs; harvesting too late results in soft, over-ripe eggs.

Harvesting

When a female reaches peak maturity, she is moved to pure, cold purging tanks for a few weeks to clear her system and ensure a clean taste. The extraction is a delicate culinary operation:

• Extraction: The egg sacks (ovaries) are carefully removed in a sterile, temperature-controlled environment.
• Sieving: The egg sacks are gently rubbed over a fine mesh screen to separate the individual eggs from the surrounding membrane.
• Washing & Sorting: The eggs are washed repeatedly in ice-cold water to remove impurities. Master graders then sort the caviar by size, colour, and firmness.

Curing and Aging (Malossol)

• The Malossol Method: High-quality Oscietra is almost always prepared using the Malossol technique, which means "little salt" in Russian. Pure, fine salt (usually between 3% and 5% of the total weight) is gently folded into the eggs. The salt acts as a natural preservative and brings out the caviar’s signature rich, nutty flavour.
• Packaging and Maturation: The caviar is packed into traditional metal tins and pressed down tightly to express any remaining air and liquid. The tins are sealed with a thick rubber band and aged in cold storage (around -2°C to 2°C) for several weeks. This aging process allows the eggs to absorb the salt and develop their complex, buttery flavour profiles.

Some farms have developed "stripping or milking" methods, where the fish is given a hormone to induce labour and the eggs are massaged out and the fish remains alive. This can increase overall yields from a single fish having multiple pregnancies over several years. The traditional method, however,  requires the fish to be slaughtered to extract the eggs. Gourmet House (and all other large caviar houses) use the traditional method of harvesting rather than the "milking" technique.

There are 3 reasons for this:

• Authentic Texture and "Pop": The "milking" process requires treating the eggs with specific proteins or calcium stabilizer baths to prevent them from turning mushy once extracted. High-end brands like Gourmet House avoid this because it alters the natural, firm "pop" of the egg casing that caviar connoisseurs expect.
• Flavour Integrity: Gourmet House uses the traditional Malossol ("little salt") curing method. This method relies on pure, unaltered egg cell membranes to absorb salt naturally. Milked eggs struggle to hold the cure the same way without synthetic assistance.
• Total Resource Utilization: In a modern sustainable farm setting like Gourmet House’s, a traditional harvest doesn't mean waste. Sturgeons harvested by Gourmet House are also utilized for their meat and alternative luxury sub-products (such as cosmetic caviar oil). None of the fish goes to waste.