Vodka and caviar, anyone? From Russia (via Uruguay), with love
Cary and Karin Button are consummate travelers. As the owners of Maui Prime Fine Foods and its parent company, Oyster Seafood in Lahaina (the latter of which sells gourmet foods to top Maui hotels and restaurants), they are afforded the ability to take holidays all over the world.
Every year, I hear about their trips to Madrid or some other far-flung locale. This year, they went to Finland and Russia, a holiday that was based upon a chance meeting with a caviar distributor who appeared at the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival in June.
(I happened to be at the same KW&FF trade tasting in the ballroom at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, and was at the Black River Caviar booth at the very moment that Cary met one of its owners, Graham Gaspard. Of course, what self-respecting food writer wouldn’t hover over a caviar booth?)
We popped little half quail eggs topped with dollops of the glistening delicacy into our mouths like it was candy; and other restaurant managers and owners gobbled them up, too, as it was the most popular pit stop besides the champagne and wine stations.
“The idea for Black River Caviar was hatched in 1985 by Alter Alcalde,” Cary enthuses about the high-end product that is actually produced in pristine waters in Uruguay.
“The 2002 product won first place over Russian and Iranian caviar. Production increased to 7 tons in 2005 and Black River Caviar continues to increase annually.”
Wait a minute. If it’s made in the Southern Hemisphere, why would the Buttons go to Russia?
“He knows all about Russia as they send him three different types of sturgeon, letting them spawn and grow,” Carys says of Gaspard. “We corresponded back and forth and he gave me the two spots to go to, basically pointed me in the right Russian direction.We’re hoping to see his plant with the pure waters in Uruguay next year.”
The Buttons started off their journey with epic four days in Helsinki, Finland, “. . . eating salmon and salmon gravlax 10 different ways and walking so we could eat everything on our trip,” says Cary, a classically trained chef. “Karin made us walk at least 17,000 steps a day — according to her Nike wristband — and we did.”
The couple then headed to Russia, where they voyaged on the Viking Truvor cruise ship on the “waterway of the tsars” from St. Petersburg all the way to Moscow.
“This was the most colorful and spectacular trip,” Karin says. Cary agrees. “Karin and I have been married for 25 years and we travel to a different country every year. Russia is the most fantastic place we’ve been so far.”
In St. Petersburg, they saw the Hermitage and Catherine’s Palace, and dove head first into the Grand Hotel Europe with its famous caviar bar.
Gaspard also sent them to the famous CUM department store on Red Square. Both the hotel and the store have live Beluga and Osetra sturgeon swimming in tanks.
“Gaspard told us that he sold back 2 tons of caviar to the Russians from his plant in Uruguay,” says Cary.
After St. Petersburg, they traveled across Lake Ladoga, Europe’s largest inland body of water, to Mandrogy, Russia, to visit the Vodka Museum and a traditional “banya” bathhouse and jumped into the lake after their sauna, just like Andrew Zimmern did on his “Bizarre Foods” TV?show on the Travel Channel.
“I was introduced to Beluga Vodka,” Cary fondly recollects. “I had one, two, maybe three shots every night after each stop on the river. Then we went to Moscow, the Kremlin, Red Square, the beautiful St. Basil’s Cathedral and the ballet to see Swan Lake.”
Now rested and back from the gourmet adventure, Cary is swimming with Black River Caviar in his store.
“I sold some to our good friend, Peter Longhi,” Cary says of the famous West Maui restaurateur. “He gave me the first compliment in 36 years of friendship. Plus, he paid in cash. I almost fell over, but it’s a testament to the product of how good it is.”
The Russian Oscietra that he purveys is produced from live sturgeon of Russian origin. It has got a firm texture, unique glazed sheen and an intense, creamy taste with a lingering, nutty flavor.
The caviar is rated “green” by the Marine Conservation Institute and recognized by the World Wildlife Fund for its “exceptional sustainable practices.” Raceways that are fed by pristine river water mimic the wild habitat, where the fish swim free.
“I also am bringing in live abalone from the Big Island,” Cary says. “I spent two days with Hiroshi Arai about the millions of abalone that he’s farming. I have a new saying, ‘If it swims, crawls or flies, Karin and I have tried it’ and it’s in the store for you to try — meaning I get it somewhere in the world. OK, shoot me. I love to eat.”