Tag Archives: Caviar

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Luxury Tours in Russia

St. Basil's Cathedral, Russia

From the brooding symbolism of Moscow to St. Petersburg’s romanticism, Russia’s history, culture and beauty will captivate just about any traveler. While there are a number of ways to explore the country, a luxury tour does away with all of the hassle of planning, allowing you to soak up all that Russia has to offer in true comfort and style.

Moscow and St. Petersburg – Scott Dunn
Moscow and St. Petersburg are two Russian cities that are steeped in history and culture, but are both extremely distinct in their own way. Scott Dunn is a luxury travel company that offers a fantastic tour of both cities, enabling you to experience the contrast between each. All of the hotels chosen for this week-long itinerary are five stars and centrally located, from the Ritz Carlton in Moscow to the Belmond Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg, allowing you to easily explore your surroundings during any down time. Some of the highlights of the Moscow portion of the tour include shopping on Arbat Street, taking in the art at the Tretyakov Gallery, and a visit to Lenin’s mausoleum, while in St. Petersburg you can expect to sample caviar and vodka at a famous bar, visit some 18th century palaces, and check out the Hermitage Museum.

Assumption Cathedral, Golden Ring of Russia.

Frog Dares / Shutterstock.com

Golden Ring – Open Russia
The ancient kingdoms of the Golden Ring are located just outside of Moscow and showcase the important developments that have occurred in Russia’s history. Open Russia offers a two-day tour of the Golden Ring, taking guests to some of the historical towns around Vladimir and Suzdal, many sites of which have been granted UNESCO World Heritage status. The tour company focuses on the ultimate VIP experience, from preferential rooms at luxury boutique hotels to private museum viewings with tours conducted by museum curators to VIP restaurant reservations. In addition to this, all transport will be carried out in a luxury vehicle of your choosing, whether this may be a limousine, a luxury bus or a retro Russian vehicle.

Luxury Volga Cruise – Volga Dream
Running for over 2000 miles, the Volga is the longest and largest river in Europe, and, flowing all the way through Central Russia, is considered to be the national river of the country. The boutique Volga Dream vessel replicates the tsarist-era of luxury, making it feel as though you are aboard a private yacht. With 60 crew members to 100 passengers, the level of service is at the highest, and the rich onboard program ensures that you are always kept entertained while out on the water. There are a number of different cruise itineraries to choose from, depending on which cities you want to stop at and explore, and the crew are also able to create customized itineraries if there is somewhere in particular that you are especially eager to see.

Being the world’s largest nation, there is so much to see and do when you visit Russia, which is why a luxury tour is often preferred when it comes to taking in the sights. This way, you can be sure that you will not miss out on any highlights, and will also be able to enjoy the range of VIP extras that are added on by the tour operators.

Lifestyle |

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Caviar 101

Red caviar

While there may be no other ingredient quite as luxurious as caviar, there is no denying that this delicacy can often be quite confusing, especially with so many different varieties out there. While three species of sturgeon used to supply most of the world’s caviar, overfishing has meant that roe from other varieties of fish have now become popular. For those of you who are not yet quite caviar connoisseurs, this guide will teach you everything that you need to know about this luxurious delicacy.

How to Purchase Caviar
Many people believe that the more expensive a variety of caviar is, the better it will taste, but this is not at all the case. Instead, the price is based on the rarity of the fish that it comes from, and roe from a rarer fish does not necessarily taste better. Top grades of caviar are also usually more mature, and the flavors can often be too much for a beginner to handle. When shopping for caviar, make sure that you taste it before purchasing, and if a particular shop does not allow you to do so, it is worth finding somewhere else to buy caviar from.

Deciding How Much to Purchase
A common mistake made by caviar first-timers is to buy a small, ten-gram tin, but this only allows for a couple of bites and does not allow your palette enough time to adapt to these new flavors. Instead, buy a minimum of thirty grams, as you need to heap around half a teaspoon of the roe onto your tongue at a time in order to fully experience its taste and texture.

How to Store Caviar
Caviar is an extremely perishable ingredient, and for that reason, it needs to be stored in a particular way. While an unopened tin will happily sit in your refrigerator for a few weeks, a tin that has been opened needs to be eaten within three days, after which its flavor will seriously deteriorate. Placing some plastic wrap over the surface of the roe will help to keep oxygen out, before putting the tin in the coldest part of your refrigerator, surrounding it with ice packs if necessary.

Black caviar

Serving Caviar
When serving caviar that has been in the refrigerator, remove the tin and let it stand for ten minutes at room temperature before serving. Only open the tin at the very last minute, as this ensures maximum freshness. When choosing which accompaniments to serve the caviar with, remember to only choose items that are quite bland in flavor, as you do not want anything competing with, and distracting from, the delicacy of the caviar. Blinis, mini slices of toast, unsalted crackers and sour cream always work well, along with some chilled Russian vodka.

Once you begin to open yourself up to all that caviar offers, there is a whole world out there in terms of texture, flavor and variety that will truly captivate you. From the rarest caviar, known as golden or royal caviar, that comes from the albino osetra sturgeon, to salmon and whitefish caviars that are not really considered true varieties of the ingredient but are still delicious in their own right, there is so much to discover and introduce to your palette, that you will wonder why you never gave caviar a try earlier.