What is pressed caviar

What is pressed caviar...
Pressed caviar is made from a thick salty paste obtained from roe that has been damaged during processing. Pressed caviar can also be made from a mixture of different batches of caviar from several types of sturgeon, including overripe or underripe caviar that cannot be classified as varietal caviar.
The process of making pressed caviar is unique compared to the process of making regular caviar. After the caviar is obtained and cleaned, it is filled with water and salt and left for several hours. This allows the salt to fully penetrate the eggs. This process is similar to the regular method of salting caviar, but the next steps are significantly different.
An action that would be sacrilege for regular caviar is pressing the caviar mixture, squeezing out as much caviar oil as possible. What remains is a paste-like mass, very salty and with a fishy taste. This mass can now be used as a spread or as a butter for various products and dishes.
The method of pressing caviar was used initially, as it was the only way to preserve sturgeon caviar. Thus, most references to black caviar before the twentieth century speak of pressed caviar, since there was no method of cooling caviar as we know it today.
The most popular pressed caviar was from Salyan, Azerbaijan. The caviar was pressed into 450 kg barrels, then into sealed packages and transported to various regions of Europe.