The obsession with crayfish in their native country first brought Mats and Dafne Engstrom to California from Sweden in 1978. Their own obsession with caviar kept them there.
Now, after 18 years, their idea of raising sturgeon in the United States to produce fine caviar is finally a reality.
They started out exporting crayfish to Sweden but became intrigued with the sturgeon in the Sacramento River. Since it is illegal to harvest the sturgeon commercially, they thought about aquaculture. They consulted experts at the University of California at Davis.
“The idea of raising sturgeon to produce caviar was like going into the paper business by first planting a forest,” Engstrom said. “It did not turn out to be a practical idea.”
So the Engstroms, whose company, California Sunshine Fine Foods, is based in San Francisco, went into the caviar-importing business. They were the first to import caviar from the Amur River, on the border between China and Russia, where there are giant sturgeon related to the beluga of the Caspian Sea.
For a time they also raised sturgeon at a fish farm near Sacramento. Now, in partnership with Ken Beer, who has been raising sturgeon in the same area for 18 years, they are beginning to produce California caviar. Beer’s sturgeon, raised in giant tanks, reach at least 50 pounds, each yielding about 5 pounds of excellent caviar very similar to osetra.
Caviar connoisseurs, including members of the Wine and Food Society, have been impressed by the quality.
The type of sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, or white sturgeon, is closely related to Acipenser sturio, the osetra. It is superior to the paddlefish and other fish related to the sturgeon that are used for American caviar.
“Unlike Caspian Sea sturgeon, these California sturgeon are raised in waters free of pollution,” Dafne Engstrom said.
Most of the fish harvested for caviar becomes excellent smoked sturgeon.
This year, the Engstroms expect to produce at least 300 pounds of caviar. An annual yield of about 10,000 pounds will be possible in four to five years, Dafne Engstrom said. “It finally feels that all our work wasn’t in vain.”
California Sunshine’s Tsar Nicoulai American osetra-style caviar is $25 for one ounce, $47 for two ounces, $165 for seven ounces and $325 for 14 ounces. Smoked sturgeon is $28 a pound for a side weighing three to four pounds, or $33 a pound sliced. Shipping is extra. Orders can be placed by calling 800-952-2842.
