212 ANIMAL FOOD EESOXJRCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



in packets to the corner of the fishing stage set apart- 

 for the preparation of caviare, of which there are four 

 kinds made :- — 



1. The grained spawn or eggs entire. 



2. The hard, or pressed. 



3. The salted. 



4. The blind eggs. 



The choicest caviare is made with the eggs of the- 

 beluga (Acipenser huso), which are large and handsome. 

 Those of the common sturgeon (A. GuMenstadtii) the 

 sevruga (^A. stellatus), and the bastard sturgeon, mixed, 

 furnish a less esteemed kind; while the eggs of the 

 sterlet (A. ruthenus), which are extremely small, do not 

 enter into commerce, but are used locally by the fisher- 

 men and workpeople. 



In preparing caviare, the roe of the several kinds of 

 sturgeon is spread out on a net with narrow meshes 

 forming a sieve, and stretched over a wooden frame, 

 then the grains are passed through the meshes by slightly 

 pressing the whole mass till nothing remains on the 

 sieve but the cellular tissue, the fat, and the muscle. 

 The grains, which are black or brown, fall through the 

 .sieve into a wooden receptacle placed underneath. For 

 manufacturing grained caviare the roe is sprinkled with 

 very clean and fine salt, and the whole mass is stirred 

 with a wooden fork having eight or ten prongs. The 

 less the fresh caviare is salted the more it is esteemed. 

 The roe mixed with the salt presents at first a doughy 

 appearance when it is stiiTed ; but when every grain has 

 been impregnated with salt, the whole mass swells, and 

 in stirring it a slight noise is perceptible like that of 

 stirring small grains of sand. This noise is the sign that 

 the caviare is ready. 



In manufacturing pressed caviare the brine is made 

 stronger, and when the eggs are well impregnated with 

 salt, the grains are put into a sack made of the bark of 

 the linden tree, which is placed under a press, in order 

 to get all the brine out of the caviare, and to transform 

 it into a solid mass. In thus pressing the caviare, a. 



