Forks in Our Road: Ersatz New Year's Eve, At Long Last

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Ersatz New Year's Eve, At Long Last

Ann and I had planned for much of the year with Rob and Dyce to go to their house on New Year's Eve to celebrate the change in years with them. They had stocked up on Champagne and caviar for the evening and we bought caviar to bring as well. And, I had planned quite an elaborate latke board to bring as well, because who doesn't like caviar on their latkes?

Caviar Feast

Rob and Dyce headed off to Italy for the holidays and on return, both were sick. And Ann was sick. And I threw out my back, again. And we kept putting off the caviar in hopes that we could all be well at the same time, at least well enough to enjoy the caviar.

Finally, after four or five delays, we managed to get together. Ann and I had long since consumed all the ingredients for the latke board, but we hung on to the caviar. And so it was that on Sunday night, now in late January, we got together for a very subdued celebration, it having been more than a month since we got together last.

Rob opened some really nice Champagne while we were there. Sadly because of the imminent threat of icy streets, I needed my wits about me and nursed a glass and a half over three hours.

Rob very kindly made some blini to go with the caviar while we brought along a big bag of potato chips and a ramekin each of dill-horseradish sour cream and saffron aїoli. Potato chips and caviar is a well-known pairing with Champagne and a bit of my saffron aїoli makes it just that much better. I made the aїoli knowing that Dyce is a fiend for it.

Rob Made Blini

Caviar Anyone?
(top left, clockwise) American Paddlefish, Sea Trout, White Sturgeon Royal, and White Sturgeon

A word about caviar. The caviar market has led to the terrible exploitation of several species of fish, most notably the assorted sturgeons from Eastern Europe and Russia. In fact, it is mainly illegal to harvest many species in these areas because of this rampant abuse. As a responsible restaurateur, I only sourced farmed caviar from reputable suppliers for the restaurant and I continue post-restaurant to do the same.

Rob is quite the caviar connoisseur and splurged for a couple of different tins of farm-raised White Sturgeon caviar from Sterling in California, our West Coast supplier of choice. Ann and I have had this caviar before for our own celebrations and it is a wonderful product. White Sturgeon, the primary sturgeon species in the US West, is not quite as good as either Beluga or Ossetra, but it tastes quite good, comes sustainably from fish also used for meat production, and is priced more affordably.

Knowing Rob was going to get sturgeon roe, I wanted to bring something different and so I turned to the Portland Maine-based supplier to my restaurant, Browne Trading Company. I got a tin each of American Paddlefish and Sea Trout caviar, both of which we used at the restaurant in addition to sturgeon.

Native to the Mississippi River basin, American Paddlefish is a threatened species that is now farmed, like White Sturgeon, for caviar. The Sea Trout caviar comes from Rainbow Trout farmed in the ocean off Denmark. The appeal of the Sea Trout caviar, besides its delightful salmon color, is its unique texture. Each egg pops when you eat it to release a delightful, but decidedly non-fishy, flavor. If you have ever balked at salmon caviar because of its fishiness, trout caviar will be a revelation.

In addition to our not having seen Rob and Dyce in more than a month, we have also missed seeing their kids Reilly and Lola, who wasted no time in greeting us at the door and keeping us company throughout the evening.