OSIETRA
OSIETRA
Acipenser gueldenstaedti
“It is the most interesting of the sturgeons, as its eggs can vary greatly in size, flavor and color.”
This is the most mysterious of the sturgeon, whose eggs vary in taste, size and color in the most subtle ways. It seems that the flavor of the eggs varies enormously. This depends on the food the sturgeon finds on the sea floor.
The Osietra can grow to be two meters in length and weigh up to 200 kilos. The average adult is 1,50 meters long and weighs between 20 and 80 kilos. The head is broad and short, with a slightly upturned snout and a protruding mouth in the shape of a suction tube that sucks in algae, plants, small fish and some crustaceans.
This fish has hard scales all over its body and its color varies from gray dark to brown around the spine, with a lighter shade on the belly. Two rows of barbs can be found around the suction tube.
The Osietra can live from 60 to 80 years of age. In the past, some 120-year-old fish have been caught. This sturgeon reaches sexual maturity between 12 and 15 years of age. Fish who live in relatively warm waters can reproduce earlier (between 8 and 10 years of age).
The color of the eggs varies enormously, from dark gray to dark brown with golden highlights. Even in young fish, the eggs are large with golden hues. As the fish ages, the eggs take on an amber hue and develop an extremely delicate flavor of hazelnuts and cream.