Truffles, Caviar & Foie Gras: Small Luxuries with Loyal Fans

No foods possess quite the same mystique as caviar, truffles, and foie gras. The pristine service of Caspian beluga caviar defines elegance. Showering a dish of fresh pasta with white Piedmont truffles turns the simple and familiar into something sublimely luxurious, and one of the ultimate pleasures of the table is the perfect marriage of the velvety rich foie gras with a noble Sauternes.

- Katherine Alford, Author, Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras: Recipes for Indulgence (Chronicle Books, 2001)

The classic combination of foie gras and truffles, once tasted, is never forgotten. Complement this luxurious feast with a sampling of caviar and you've created a setting fit for royalty.

Once relegated only to white tablecloth restaurants, these delicacies are becoming ever more popular and, more importantly, familiar. Don't allow the price of these luxurious foods to deter you or your customers from celebrating their glory; instead, educate your customers as to what to purchase and when, and finally, how to serve these mystical foods as main dishes, as well as how to incorporate them as ingredients.

Caviar

Caviar is perhaps the symbol of luxury. Its origins are ancient; its legacy, noble. The word caviar refers to the sturgeon's salted unfertilized eggs. Only four of the 27 species of sturgeon found in the world are noted for their caviar. By legal definition, fish roe can only be labeled caviar if it's from a sturgeon. The most significant of these are the beluga, the Russian sturgeon (osetra), the sevruga, and the ship.

Man is the sturgeon's only predator and unfortunately, several species of sturgeon are threatened with extinction. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES placed all 27 sturgeon species under its protection three years ago. This means that legally traded caviar must have a CITES permit from the country wishing to export it and the amount must fit within that country's quota.

In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering adding the beluga sturgeon to its endangered species list, which would make it illegal to import the fish or its products to the U.S. The beluga sturgeon inhabits the Caspian and Black Seas, which both border Russia. In its proposal, the Fish and Wildlife Service says the species is in danger of vanishing because of overharvesting, illegal trafficking, and loss of its natural habitat due to dam construction and other projects. The United States currently imports 80 percent of the world's beluga caviar.

As the industry awaits word from Fish and Wildlife officials — which set the proposal's comment period to end Oct. 29, importers are preparing for the end of imported beluga. If the ban on beluga is approved, it won't affect retail until sometime in July 2003.

While caviar industry experts are empathetic with the plight of the beluga sturgeon, they aren't sure what impact the ban may have. While it might help the fisheries within Russia where poaching and black-market dealings are paralyzing the market, it would hurt countries like Iran, which has tirelessly worked at building successful restocking and aquaculture programs.

While the debate rages, experts suggest retailers educate themselves and their customers on the origins of beluga caviar. Suggestions include avoiding caviar from Kazakhstan (Ural River), which is overharvested; purchasing only caviar that lists the country of origin on the label (product of the Caspian Sea is too general); knowing the caviar's age (look for companies that include "stale dates" on the label); looking for a CITES permit tracking number on the label; and finally, searching out importers who provide both health and origin certifications.

While the world will miss a great culinary delicacy if the beluga ban is approved, there are still ample world-class caviars available. Katherine Alford, author of Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras — Recipes for Divine Indulgence, believes retailers should be promoting other caviars now and avoiding beluga varieties even before the ban takes hold.

"There are a lot of questions about caviar right now. Responsibly, no one should be selling beluga caviar anymore. It's endangered and you really don't know if you're getting beluga or not," she explained. "One way to get people interested in it is to talk about alternatives to beluga."

Top-grade caviars are harvested from other sturgeon species, including the Chinese kaluga and the American paddlefish. Many companies also offer Iranian caviars, which had been banned prior to 2000. Importers such as Browne Trading Company constantly search out reputable caviar producers to infuse their inventory with world-class stock. In fact, Browne recently introduced a new caviar label called Caviar Astara, which includes beluga, sevruga, and persicus caviars. Owner Rod Mitchell said the persicus caviar produced from the roe of the Karaburun (black-nosed asetra — Acipencer persicus) sturgeon would overshadow the beluga. The new brand name — taken from the Iranian fishing community of Astara that fishes for the Karaburun sturgeon.

After determining reputable caviar dealers and discovering high-quality product, the next part of caviar education should begin with your staff. Be sure your employees understand the product so they can have an open dialogue with customers and overcome cost, quality, and origin issues associated with caviar.

"The way to sell caviar is to make it an event. It shouldn't involve simply buying a tin and going away. A lot of retailers are selling a tin and the customers can't see what they are getting," Alford continued. "Caviar should be sold in glass jars and should not be kept out on display. Educate your customers with signage that says, 'We stock wonderful caviar. To preserve its quality, we don't keep it on display.' Let your customers know that you are taking care of the product and you've done your research to get good product. Encourage conversations with your customers so that they know you understand where your caviar comes from and why you selected it. Once you become known as a reputable source for high-quality caviar, sales will build."

Be sure to also include other fish appreciated for their roe in your inventory. Salmon, whitefish, cod, flying fish (tobiko), lumpfish, and trout roes are not substitutes for true caviar, but provide affordable alternatives. These selections are wonderful products customers may serve as both ingredients and garnishes.

Janet Ostrow, owner of Premier Gourmet in Kenmore, N.Y., said her customers use caviar as a garnish, an ingredient, and an entrée, making a range of caviar products a necessity in her store.

She explained, "Our product lines range from shelf-stable caviars (Romanoff and Roland) to refrigerated lumpfish and capelin (Royal Sweden and Krinos), to Russian beluga, sevruga, and osetra."

Michelle Croteau, spokesperson for Lund's of Minneapolis, Minn., explained her market is similar to other parts of the country, with the peak caviar-selling season being in December.

"We bulk up our presentation during the key holiday season," she said. "We order from our supplier and it usually arrives within 24 hours, ensuring the freshest product available, but we ask our guests to allow 48 hours to process any special orders due to any unforeseen shipping delays."

Byron Hanson, manager of deli operations for Lund Food Holdings, Inc., is well versed in caviar selection — Lund's carries sevruga caviar in 30-, 50-, and 100-gram sizes, and allows special orders for other sizes. Osetra and beluga caviars are stocked in the same sizes, as well as salmon roe. Hanson educates both his customers and staff by providing information on each caviar's cultivation and origin.

"Sevruga is the strongest-tasting caviar, spawns every seven years, and has the smallest eggs. Osetra is slightly nutty tasting, has a golden hue, spawns every 14 years, and produces slightly larger eggs. Beluga is the mildest tasting, spawns every 21 years, and has the largest eggs," Hanson explained.

Hanson also holds a "Caviar College" every fall for Lund's cheese specialists and department managers to teach them the differences in the three kinds of caviar Lund's carries.

"I have them taste the differences," he explained. "Also, we sample out any caviar that may be coming close to the 'sell by' date, so if customers are lucky, they may be in the store the day we sample out caviar."

Ostrow rounds out her caviar merchandising with frozen blini, dark black bread, crème fraiche, and unsalted European-style butters, as well as caviar servers and horn and mother-of-pearl spoons. She encourages complementary purchases by providing caviar-purchasing tips and a list of caviar accoutrements. A recent suggestion included a martini chiller.

She explained, "It makes a great, inexpensive caviar server — place crushed ice in the bowl, fill the cone-shaped glass with caviar, and you are ready to party!"

Hanson also cross-merchandises his delicacies.

"We always display hard goods with our caviars, foie gras, and truffles. We show the caviar presenters, as well as the palettes, the mother-of-pearl serving spoons, champagne and vodka flutes, and marble silver service trays for the fresh foie gras," he said.

Display accoutrements near your caviar display. Include a Caviar Tip Sheet that explains to customers how to choose the perfect caviar for the right occasion. Good caviar is expensive and should be treated with respect. Your Caviar Tip Sheet should tell customers to seek fresh caviar in a vacuum-sealed container that has been kept cold.

"Caviar should have no strong aromas, and the eggs should be of uniform size and color, without damaged membranes and with a light glossy sheen," Alford said.

Alford suggests serious customers be offered a small taste to be sure your caviar doesn't taste fishy, acidic, or tart, or have a slimy texture.

"Acknowledge that your customer is buying something special. When someone is buying a lot of caviar, you should let them see it to show confidence in the product that you have," Alford continued. "If I am going to spend $500 on caviar, I think I should be able to taste it. And that means the retailer has to stand by my purchase."

Truffles

Truffles are perhaps the most mysterious of these three luxuries. Both revered as "children of the gods" and once believed to be the embodiment of evil, the truffle has long held its magical station in the annals of culinary history. Romans imported the white truffle from Libya, Cyrenaica, and Marmarica in sealed jars filled with sand. The truffle gained and lost status throughout the centuries, never really coming into its own until the 19th century when man finally learned how to cultivate them.

In the early 1800s, Joseph Talon sowed acorns impregnated with truffle mycelium near the village of Saint-Saturnin d'Apt in southeastern France, and harvested truffles a few years later. Others imitated his work, and the truffle industry was born. Today's gourmet can choose from white, black, summer, and "bianchetto" varieties. There are also truffle products to enjoy, including oils, butters, creams, sauces, pastas, and even truffle-infused flour.

Truffles are subterranean fungi that live in symbiosis with certain trees, mainly oaks, but also chestnuts, hazels, and beeches. Truffles are rounded, of variable size and irregular shape, and black, dark brown, or sometimes gray or white in color.

Truffles are eaten raw or cooked; cut into strips, or sliced, diced, or shredded; in the form of juice, fumet, or essence; or simply used for their fragrance. Truffle cultivation remains essentially experimental and small scale. The many varieties of truffles are always gathered with the assistance of an animal (pig or dog) that can detect their presence. There are 70 varieties of truffles, 32 of which are found in Europe. The best known are Italy's white truffle and France's "black diamond."

The black truffle of Perigord, which matures after the first frosts, has black flesh streaked with whitish veins and emits a powerful, intense aroma. The black truffle is the most sought-after variety due to that memorable aroma. Some similar varieties — the musky, summer, and Burgundy truffles — are comparable in appearance and could be mistaken for the black truffle. The black truffle grows mainly in Mediterranean Europe, southeastern and southwestern France, the northern half of Italy, and the northern half of Spain.

The black winter truffle — or musky truffle — is harvested at the same time as the black truffle but has a slightly bitter taste and a grassy aroma. The black winter truffle is tasty when cooked and is often used in truffle products.

The summer truffle is picked from May through September, and is the only truffle harvested during the summer in Europe. They are at their best from late July onward. Bianchetti, also known as the spring truffle and Tuscan truffle, are small varieties that come into season from mid-January through April. Unlike black and white truffles, they grow under pine trees rather than broad-leafed varieties.

The Burgundy truffle, unlike the Perigord truffle, prefers cool soil and shady conditions. Harvested in the fall, it has a delicate hazelnut fragrance and is suitable as a raw ingredient.

While the "black diamond" might be the first choice for use with scrambled eggs, the white truffle is a favorite with pasta and risotto. The most well-known varieties are the Alba and Piedmont white truffles, which are much rarer and more costly than the black ones.

John Edward Smith, Executive Producer of the U.S. White Truffle Festival, Miami, Fla., noted that, "the white truffle is far superior to the black truffle by virtue of its composition, flavor, and price. The white truffle is typically four times more expensive than the black truffle."

The white truffle matures in the fall. The quality of the fresh truffles that are on sale from November through March is vastly superior to canned or preserved truffles. Ideally, raw truffles should be eaten within three or four days of purchase. Canned and bottled truffles have been cooked and although they last longer, their fragrance is diminished.

"I use my truffles while they are in season. I enjoy them and then I long for them until the next year," Smith said.

The purchase of fresh truffles relies heavily on the delivery process. Truffles begin to lose their pungency within a couple of days and therefore, should only be purchased after you smell and inspect them. Smith encourages retailers to educate customers about truffles and alert them to their seasons.

"There are many ways retailers can communicate to customers the significance of the truffle season," Smith explained. "Seasonal items — artichokes, truffles, white asparagus — have an obvious seasonal appeal. People can be intimidated by truffle prices and their perishability. (Top price last year was $1,800 a pound.) Most truffles in a gourmet market have been out of the ground three to four days. From this point they have a seven-day life maximum, if they are kept well."

Educating your customers about proper truffle storage will encourage sales — wrap truffles loosely in a paper towel and store them in an airtight jar, changing the paper daily. White truffles can last up to a week and black truffles up to two weeks, but they lose their aroma daily.

Market truffle season with a celebration corresponding with one of the biggest events in the truffling world — The Alba Truffle Festival. Held at the end of October in the northern Italian town of Alba, the celebration marks the official start of truffle-hunting season. (The Italian truffle season begins in September and ends in late December for both black and white truffles.)

You can recreate this celebration with your own in-store promotion that includes a series of educational truffle seminars, cooking classes, and harvest deals on truffle products. Truffle recipes should be as simple as possible, allowing the fresh, raw truffle to court the senses. Ostrow likes to provide tips for her customers to encourage them to buy new products. One of her truffle tips is to add a few drops of soy sauce to a truffle dish (or homemade truffle butter) to enhance the flavor.

Since truffle prices vary according to supply and demand, be sure to consider American varieties when filling your inventory. Truffles have been cultivated in Oregon since 1986. Some truffle lovers, James Beard included, believe that while the resulting harvest doesn't quite match the genuine white truffle of Piedmont, Oregon's cultivated truffles are an acceptable alternative. They have intense flavor and aroma, while costing less than a tenth of the price of the best Piedmont truffles. Oregon also produces a black variety, which is also in season in fall and winter.

Rosario Safina and Judith Sutton write in their newly released book Truffles: Ultimate Luxury, Everyday Pleasure (John Wiley & Sons, November 2002), "Truffle flour, a relative newcomer even chefs are still discovering, is so intoxicatingly fragrant that it works best as a flavoring or condiment — sprinkle a little over grilled steak or stir just a pinch into a pan sauce, and the dish will explode with flavor. Think of these new products as fabulous convenience foods. With them, you can enjoy truffles whenever you want, all year-round."

Truffle products are also a great way to round out stock and lure customers to experiment with this lavish ingredient. Complementing fresh truffles with a selection of truffle items is what makes the category profitable, as well as stocking and demonstrating truffle shavers, microplaners, and other truffle friendly utensils.

Smith explained, "Retailers do better with truffle oils, butters, and flours. Carrying truffles is more a courtesy to their customers than a profit-making enterprise. It's the same as restaurants that serve white truffles. With the volatility of the product, you aren't making a lot of money. But they need to consider truffles because they are something that some of their customers want. It really shows that the retailer is on the curve."

Ostrow agreed, saying, "Some products we sell are DiCamillo Tagliatelle al Tartufo from Umbria, Nuovo Black Truffle, and Creme Frozen Raviolini (Cheeseworks); Langhet con Tartufo Cheese (Crystal Foods); Black and White Truffle Cream Spreads (Roland and Crystal), as well as white and black truffle oils from Roland, Cuisine Perel, and Gourmet America. Truffle butter is also popular."

Ostrow's largely Italian-populated town understands the value of truffles and truffle products.

"We have a large Italian population and a large university population who travel to Italy and want truffle products," Ostrow said. "We sell refrigerated truffles in jars, whole, sliced, and peelings. At one time, we thought these were all fourth-quarter items, but they sell well throughout the year. Their distinctive flavor raises many ordinary dishes to a new dimension. For those who have their own truffles, we sell truffle shavers, too — a great gift for the gourmet who has everything!"

Foie Gras

Even before Pierre Francois de La Varenne first paired foie gras with truffles in the 1600s, kings and bourgeois diners alike celebrated this delicacy achieved through partnership betwixt man and nature.

"Rich and divinely indulgent, foie gras engenders a passionate debate about animal rights, as well as national loyalties to American and French products," Alford writes. "I think of caloric and controversial foie gras as the Eartha Kitt of the food world: What makes it so good is that it is a little bad."

The history of foie gras began in ancient Egypt with the domestication of wild geese and continues to the foie gras of the Roman Empire. The first real evidence of foie gras' presence on a table dates back to the first century B.C. when Marcus Apicius revealed a "method of treating the liver of sows as of geese."

Today, there are as many foie gras varieties as there are people with a penchant for it. As with caviar and truffles, a little foie gras goes a long way. A small amount will transform a dish. A simple starter will alter a meal.

Foie gras is available in A, B, or C grades, which are determined by various physical properties of the liver. The government in France regulates the grading process, while in the U.S., the individual producer imposes grading criteria. The relatively high cost of foie gras can make its preparation intimidating, so provide your customers with preparation, handling, cleaning, and cooking tips to alleviate some of their fears. Consider holding a private class, during which you demonstrate ways to prepare and serve fresh foie gras in an invitation-only holiday event for your best customers.

"Foie gras is rather intimidating. You need to provide customers with the information necessary to prepare it," Alford said. "Point out recipes or cookbooks to your customers. Encourage people to know that it's really easy to work with."

Alford encourages retailers to open a dialogue with customers interested in foie gras to be sure they are selecting the right grade. It's important to know whether they're making a terrine or serving it seared as a side.

Specialty food retailers are the primary source of fresh foie gras and therefore, need to be able to educate their customers as to its perishability and cost. At Lund's, employees are educated about foie gras through tastings led by Hanson.

"We carry canned duck foie gras, duck foie gras with truffles, goose foie gras, goose foie gras with truffles, and fresh goose foie gras," Hanson said. "In order to educate the customers, we sample any foie gras they are interested in, especially the fresh foie gras, so they can taste the incredible smoothness and flavor that justifies the higher price point."

Premier Gourmet special orders fresh foie gras for customers throughout the year, as well as keeps stocked items during the holiday entertaining season.

"Foie gras must be fresh. We special order it for our customers with a few days notice," Ostrow explained. "Starting about the week before Thanksgiving until New Year's Eve, we do stock both the slices and the whole foie gras in our case, but we encourage our customers to order in advance to ensure delivery."

The most important selling tool for each of these categories is education. Selling your customers caviar, truffles, or foie gras is similar to teaching them to invest in the best cookware and cooking utensils for their kitchens. Once they understand the nuances of the products and the quality achieved by the artisans who cultivate and create them, they will celebrate not only the flavors but also the investment.