PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
545 
fat, and the muscle, the grains falling into a wooden receptacle placed underneath. If grained caviar 
is to be made, 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 quantity of salt required varies, according to the 
season, from 6 to 15 pounds per 100 pounds of roe; more salt being required in warm than in cold 
weather. It is desirable that as little salt be used as is absolutely necessary for preserving the caviar. 
The roe mixed with salt first presents the appearance of dough when stirred, bub when each grain 
has been impregnated with salt the whole mass swells, and in stirring a slight noise is perceptible like 
that produced by stirring grains of corn. This noise is a sign that the process is completed. The caviar 
is packed in casks made of linden wood, as this imparts no disagreeable flavor to the contents. 
For manufacturing pressed caviar a tub half filled with brine is placed under the sieve, the 
strength of the brine varying with the temperature and the season. To impregnate the grains evenly 
with brine the whole mass is stirred with a wooden fork, always turning it from the same side. This is 
continued for 10 minutes in snmmer and about half that long in winter. Then the roe is removed 
with fine sieves and, after the brine has drained therefrom, it is put in receptacles made of the bark 
of the linden, 3 poods (108 pounds) to each sack, each of which is placed under compression to remove 
all the brine from the roe and to transform it to a solid mass, remaining under compression for about 
6 days. During the pressing many grains are crushed and a portion of their contents flows out with 
the brine, the loss in weight amounting to about 30 per cent. The pressed caviar is then removed 
from the sacks and packed in casks containing usually 30 poods (1,080 pounds) each, the inside of 
which is covered with "napkin linen,” this being the reason why the caviar is frequently called 
caviar A la serviette (napkin caviar). The finest quality of pressed caviar, that which has been least 
salted and pressed, is packed in straight linen bags of cylindrical shape, and is called caviar a sac 
(sack caviar). Caviar is also shipped in hermetically sealed tin cans. 
Mr. Scliultz states: 
The fatness of the roe depends on the quality of the fish and the season when it is caught. The 
fattest is that made from the roe of sturgeon caught in the Caspian between .July 8 and August 15. 
This roe is left only a few hours in the brine and then taken out and packed, without being pressed, 
in casks holding from 5 to 10 poods (180 to 360 pounds) each. If the fish has been dead so long that 
the roes are somewhat spoiled, the roes and ovaries are placed in the brine until they are thoroughly 
impregnated with salt and then pressed and packed in large casks containing about 1,000 pounds. 
This is sold at a very low jirice, from 5 to 8 cents per pound, wholesale. 
The choicest caviar in the Eussian trade is from the roe of the beloiiga {Acipen- 
ser huso), the eggs being large and of good appearance; but for the bulk of caviar the 
roe of the common sturgeon {A. guldenstadtii) and of the sevriouga {A. stellatus) is used. 
Choice caviar is made from the eggs of the steriad {A. ruthenus), which, however, does 
not enter into commerce, being used by the fishermen and their neighbors. 
The eggs of the bream {Abramis brama), of the perch {Lucioperca sandra), and 
of the “vobla” or chub [Leuciscus rutilus) are also used for making a form of caviar, 
which finds a market principally in Constantinople and Greece. Merchants from 
Greece visit the fishing establishments near Astrakhan, purchase the fresh eggs, and 
have the caviar prepared under their own supervision in a manner quite similar to 
the salting of mullet roes in the United States. The roe bags with the eggs therein 
are carefully removed and mixed with dry salt in bulk. After sufficient salting the mass 
is placed between boards weighted down by heavy stones, and after remaining thus for 
a month is shipped in casks. In the retail trade it is usually cut into disk-like slices and 
is mucb sought after in Greece. From 500,000 to 700,000 pounds of the caviar from 
perch eggs are prepared every year in Kuban. During recent years the Greek Island- 
ers have prepared large quantities of roes from the above-named species of fish. 
Day states* that the roe of carp {Cyprinus carpio) is made into caviar by Jews in 
Italy and Eastern Europe, as by their regulations they may not eat caviar made of 
sturgeon, that fish being destitute of scales. 
*The Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland, by Francis Day, vol. ii, p. 162. 
F.C.B.,1898— 35 
