What to Serve with Caviar

Champagne and Caviar

What to Serve with Caviar?

Caviar is always a good idea. And they don’t always have to be the most expensive fish eggs on the block. A jaunty presentation with several great accompaniments, and a favorite sparkling wine or chilled vodka can make for a most memorable experience.

Purists prefer to eat expensive caviar off the back of the hand, between the index finger and thumb so as to enjoy that pure unadulterated burst of the sea.

But it is also quite fun to put out many accompaniments and let your guests experiment with their own special pairings and combinations. Try fresh-shucked oysters with a dollop of crème fraîche topped with caviar. Or maybe a warm blini with butter, hard-cooked egg yolk and finely minced onion with caviar on top…

Perhaps 2021 will be a year to indulge and to allow oneself to enjoy life’s finer pleasures… and not wait for a special occasion?

What to Serve with Caviar

Accompaniment Suggestions

champagne or sparkling wine

cold vodka

fresh-shucked oysters

crème fraîche

warm blinis with butter

hard-cooked egg whites (pushed through a coarse-mesh sieve)

hard-cooked egg yolks (pushed through a coarse-mesh sieve)

onion, minced

lemon wedges

What to Serve with Caviar

A Blini Recipe

This recipe for blinis comes from a great cookbook (of sorts), it actually was a Christmas gift to me a few years back:

The Art of Living
according to
JOE + BEEF

by Frédéric Morin, David McMillan & Meredith Erickson

Ingredients:

1/3 cup (40 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
2/3 cup (85 g) buckwheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg
1 cup (250 ml) water
2 tablespoons neutral oil, plus more for cooking
1 teaspoon sugar
Melted unsalted butter for serving

Method:

To make the blini, in a bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, salt, and baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, water, oil, and sugar until well mixed. Whisk together the dry ingredients and wet ingredients briefly. It is better to have tiny clumps than rubbery dough.

Place a nonstick frying pan over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of oil. When the pan is hot, drop in the batter by spoonfuls, forming silver dollar – size blini. When the tops begin to set, flip the blini carefully. Continue to cook until firm. They should take 2 to 3 minutes total to fry.

Transfer to a warm tray and cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining batter. You should have about 24 blini. Just before serving, brush with melted butter.

What to Serve with Caviar