The only Siberian caviar in Europe that is born in the Teruel town of Sarrión

It is Siberian caviar extracted from the sturgeons that plague the rivers that flow into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian seas, but it is made in Teruel. Specifically in Sarrión , the town in the Gúdar mountain range that has managed to have the only fish farm “that raises sturgeons in running waters in ideal natural conditions”, as reported by Esturión de Sarrión. This is due to the magical confluence of three rivers, Albentosa, Mijares and Orcajo, which, with different temperatures, create the ideal environment for obtaining perfect caviar.

And while the Albentosa and Mijares rivers range between 13 and 17 degrees, the Orcajo is a warm underground river that registers between 20 and 22 degrees throughout the year . The blue waters of the three rivers show that they are rich in minerals and beneficial elements that significantly influence the flavor of this black caviar . ” We have a unique location on the planet and the mixture of these three types of water means that the sturgeons are raised in optimal conditions,” explains Evgeni Loparev, commercial director of the product.

It all started in the winter of 2014 , when the Esturión de Sarrión team found an advertisement that said that an old trout fish farm was for rent on the outskirts of the Teruel town and that at that time it had been empty for almost 15 years. At that time, a comprehensive renovation was carried out that ranged from the commissioning of two electric turbines to the installation of hot water pipes, through the creation of vegetation, preparation and packaging workshops and some warehouses.

MORE THAN 60 POOLS AND 20,000 FEMALES 

Today the fish farm has more than 60 pools and about 20,000 female sturgeons , and one of its keys is the creation of weather conditions that try to imitate natural habitats as much as possible. “We do a temperature regime, changing seasons, from spring to summer, autumn or winter , current speeds corresponding to that of rivers in nature itself or long wintering at temperatures as low as 3 degrees,” says the commercial director.

In fact, in one of these pools at low temperatures the females live up to three months before moving on to extract the caviar by massaging the belly of the fish. “We work with two methods to obtain the caviar, one of them is the massage method and the other is the classic one, which is when the sturgeon is slaughtered ,” comments Evgeni Loparev. In addition, they add, they feed the sturgeons with quality feed based on krill and fish oil and meal and do not use antibiotics or hormones.

The color of the eggs varies from gray to black depending on the fish and at the fish farm they are experts in caviar with different aromas. “We have smoked, with truffle essence, citrus, with jasmine, saffron…”, he explains. Currently, the Esturión de Sarrión brand produces 90% of caviar throughout Spain.