Paddlefish

American Paddlefish Caviar profile

(Polyodon Spathula)

Product characteristics:

• Wild-caught
• USA, Mississippi River
• Pearlescent light to dark steely grey color pearls
• Firm, medium size beads
• Robust, bold, complex ocean flavor
• Strong earthy finish
• Best served on a blini with crème fraiche
• Drinks: ice cold vodka, dry white wine or champagne brut

Suggested use: Paddlefish caviar is one of the most widely used types of caviar in the commercial market. Because of its strong flavor and earthy finish, it is not recommended for first-timers. However, because of its low price and high quality, this caviar is a popular choice for weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, cocktail receptions, and other special occasions.This caviar pairs well with hors d’oeuvres, canapés, and other accompaniments such as crème fraiche, potatoes, minced shallots, and so on.

Paddlefish caviar is an excellent choice for a chef looking to add caviar to a brunch buffet or an event on a tight budget. It’s a popular choice for buffet caviar on cruise ships and restaurant chains. It is the preferred caviar for “everyday” use.

Note: Paddlefish caviar is also marketed incorrectly as American Sevruga Caviar. The color and size of its egg are similar to those of Sevruga, but the taste is quite different and should not be confused.

American Paddlefish Caviar (Spoonbill Caviar)

Among the American caviars, we highlight Paddlefish Caviar or Spoonbill Caviar, which is harvested from the Paddlefish, a North American relative of the Sturgeon family. It is one of the largest river-dwelling fish species in North America, native to the Mississippi River basin.

American Paddlefish Caviar grains are small and vary in color from silver-gray to nearly dark gray, with a soft shell that melts tenderly in your mouth, washing the palate with a perfect balance of salinity, earthiness, and richness, despite the size of an adult specimen. Because of its bold and earthy taste that is nevertheless delicate and buttery, paddlefish roe caviar is often considered a good “first- timer’s” caviar. It can be served over a hard-boiled egg or on toasts or blini with a dollop of crème fraîche, as with all high-quality caviars.

This large fish, with its remarkable paddle-like snout that it uses to find zooplankton, usually produces a large amount of Paddlefish roe. The Paddlefish reproduces easily in aquafarms due to its viability, resulting in a very low price for its roe. Don’t be misled by the low prices: Paddlefish caviar has a deep, intense flavor that is remarkably similar to the much more expensive caviars harvested from Sevruga sturgeons. Generally speaking, paddlefish caviar is a low-cost alternative to caviar from the Caspian Sea, making it suitable for large gatherings and parties.

We carry Paddlefish caviar in a variety of weights here at Sam’s Caviar Store, and we also offer a great deal for a low price — a set consisting of:

• Paddlefish Caviar, 2 oz.
• Russian Original Handmade Blini, 36 pcs.
• Crème Fraîche, 7-8 oz.

About the Paddlefish

The Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) is an American species closely related to the Sturgeon family, which is the world’s primary source of true caviar. It is a prehistoric species that, like the Sturgeons, has survived largely unchanged for the last 300 million years. They are 50 million years older than dinosaurs and have survived their extinction.

The only remaining represantative of the Paddlefish family is this smooth-skinned freshwater fish. It is also known as the Mississippi Paddlefish (named after its primary range), the Spoon-billed Cat, or the Spoonbill. It has the characteristics of its prehistoric ancestors, including an almost entirely cartilaginous skeleton, a long paddle-shaped snout that accounts for nearly one-third of its total body length, and a shark-like heterocercal dorsal fin.

Paddlefish is one of North America’s longest-living freshwater species, living for up to sixty years or more in some cases (as this species has no scales, its age is taken from dentary rings, as with the age of trees). It has an average wild lifespan of about thirty years, at which age an adult specimen is about 1.5 m long and weighs nearly 30 kg. The Paddlefish is prized not only for its beautiful and delicious roe, but also for its tender flesh, which is a delicacy both cooked and smoked.

The Mississippi River basin is the Paddlefish’s native habitat, but it can also be found in Tennessee and Kentucky rivers and lakes.
Following the ban on the import of Caspian Sea caviar, the emphasis on locally harvested roe increased dramatically, resulting in poaching and overfishing of Sturgeons and other caviar-supplying species that were previously abundant in American rivers and lakes. Changes in the fishes’ habitat, such as dams that block spawning migration routes, industrial pollution, and changes in riverside structure, have also contributed to their decline. Bowfin caviar is another inexpensive American caviar.