Martha Stewart Makes The Case For Why We Should All Be Enjoying More Caviar - Exclusive
There are few people who can simultaneously exude timeless elegance and contemporary style like Martha Stewart. She's a perfect balance of class with a sprinkle of sass, and it shows in every area of her life, from her homestead to her brand to her social media personality. She loves to have fun and enjoy the finer things, whether that's a perfect martini, a dinner party with friends, or simply a few bites of caviar.
Stewart will be the first to admit how much she loves the stuff. She eats it at home and has found several ways to serve it at her first-ever restaurant, The Bedford by Martha Stewart, in Las Vegas — the capital of all things indulgent and glamorous. While you may think of this delicacy as innately out of your league (unless elite company is your typical crowd), it has arguably become a luxury for the masses.
Caviar is essentially salt-cured fish eggs, or roe, typically from different breeds of sturgeon — and though it has historically been defined by exorbitant price tags and questionable sourcing, times have changed. According to caviar connoisseurs such as Stewart, there's a case to be made for opening up your mind and your taste buds to this high-class treat. While speaking exclusively with Tasting Table, she explained why we should all consider having caviar a little more often.
Caviar is now more accessible
Martha Stewart was enjoying caviar long before it was mainstream. "I've always liked caviar," she told us. Of course, as a successful domestic goddess turned businesswoman, Stewart could indulge back when it was harder to find and even harder to afford. "We used to get little tiny tins of it and splurge with a tablespoon of it," she recalled.
Caviar used to be an elusive gourmet food both because of its price and the impacts of harvesting it. For a long time, the only way to extract roe from sturgeon — a historically endangered fish — was to kill them, but we're now able to perform more ethical procedures to extract caviar while keeping the fish alive and well (via Caviar Star).
"It's a sustainable food," said Stewart. "We've actually learned how to farm caviar very well, so we're not relying on Russian caviar anymore or Iranian caviar." Furthermore, farm-raised fish for caviar put less strain on the native population (via FoodPrint), and there are now more ways to experience caviar than just via sturgeon, such as with trout, salmon, and more (per The Manual). The result, Stewart noted, is that "people who have never eaten caviar before are enjoying it, learning about it."
It's easier to find caviar at restaurants
Besides feeling better about the more ethical harvesting methods and reasonable price point options for caviar these days, another reason to try it more often is simply because it's easier to find on menus.
"In the last two years, [caviar has become] a mainstay of almost every [fine dining] menu," Martha Stewart noted. It's served with everything from omelets to scallops to deviled eggs; on pasta and flatbreads; and with every kind of canape under the sun. At Martha Stewart's restaurant, The Bedford, you can even get it on a loaded potato, one of Stewart's favorite ways to enjoy it.
"I'm Polish and very close to Russia, and that was a common thing to do. On my last trip to Moscow, we were served baked potatoes with huge bowls of caviar ... it was so fantastic." You can skip the trip to Russia in favor of a weekend in Vegas for the same delicious experience. As Stewart put it, "That we can afford to dollop it onto a baked smashed potato is pretty luxurious, and it's nice."
Click here to learn more and make reservations at The Bedford by Martha Stewart, inside The Paris Las Vegas, a Caesars Entertainment property. Follow the latest from Martha Stewart on her Instagram.