When people think of caviar, they often think of the plains of the Urals rather than the Indian Ocean. And yet, some very interesting and high-end projects are being developed there, such as in Reunion Island with the very recent Caviar de Bourbon, or in Madagascar, where an incredible story around caviar has been unfolding for a couple of years.
A history and a luxury trio
Behind the Rova and Kasnodar caviar brands, there are three professionals in luxury clothing for prestigious international fashion houses--Delphyne Dabezies, Christophe Dabezies and Alexandre Guerrier--who decided to set up their business in Madagascar at the dawn of the 2000s.
In 2009, when this first activity was well established in Madagascar, the three friends decided to embark on a new and slightly crazy adventure: to create good and responsible caviar in Madagascar. It will be called Rova, after the Queen's palace overlooking the capital Antananarivo.
The Queen's palace overlooks both "Tana" and every grain of caviar in the Rova range... Rova Caviar
The palace is, in fact, naturally found on the first tin which was produced in 2017, after several years of work, and has not left it since. First of all, a breeding and production site was needed: Lake Mantasoa, at an altitude of 1,400 metres and covering over 2,000 hectares. It is supplied exclusively with rainwater and offers ideal conditions of purity and freshness for the development of the eggs, which are imported from Russia.
The Rova Caviar sturgeon breeding site in the cool waters of Lake Mantasoa. DR
Two ranges, one commitment to solidarity
On the occasion of a small impromptu tasting of Rova Caviar in the company of its brand development director in Luxembourg, Cathy Noël, the latter tells us more about the responsible and circular economy-related commitment of the brand's founders: “One of Rova’s leitmotifs, beyond the quality of the product, has always been the respect of living beings and the environment. Rova only breeds pure species of sturgeon, such as sevruga, beluga or the rare persicus, and no hybrid species. The farm has also implemented processes to produce electricity using solar panels and to recycle waste to local communities, and has been awarded the ‘eco-responsible’ label.”
This approach immediately appealed to Lalaina Ravelomanana, the renowned Malagasy chef of the Marais Restaurant in Tana, who has since taken pleasure in creating creative local recipes using Rova caviar and its range dedicated to the restaurant trade: Kasnodar--available in Luxembourg at Kraken, the new fresh and trendy fish shop in the Gare district of the capital. With its brilliant texture, its well-balanced flavour and its lack of unnecessary artifice, it can easily be a chic and exotic addition to the imminent festive menus.
An (almost) impromptu tasting allowed us to understand the process and discover the quality of Rova caviar, in the company of Cathy Noël. Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne
With a “first discovery” or “solo pleasure” 10-gram tin at €14.90--although we prefer a more generous volume, such as the 50-gram tin--its price does not exceed other references that may be better known, but a less interesting background story.
Spoiler alert: Kasnodar caviar will also be present in the future Flûte alors! which will open in early 2022 at 2 Grand-Rue (if all goes well!). And for the (”high”) Rova range, you can visit the .
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This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.