Sturgeon

Esturgeon

What it is

A sturgeon has no bones at all — a frame of cartilage and a notochord running its whole length, which Russian cooks dried into a translucent ribbon called vesiga and layered into coulibiac. The flesh was the prize long before the roe was, smoked in slabs and baked into pies for centuries.

In the kitchen

Treat it as veal, not as fish: it wants 55–58 °C at the centre and a rest, and it dries hard past that. Colour it in butter in thick pieces, then finish it covered and off direct heat.

Goes with

Crème fraîche Dill Horseradish Potato Butter Lemon Beetroot

Same species

Caviar Baerii caviar White sturgeon caviar Adriatic sturgeon caviar Osetra caviar Pressed caviar

Also used with

Sevruga caviar

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