The young house Aurea Ova, founded in 2016, intends to rediscover rare and exceptional caviars. It relies in particular on the know-how of Ahmad Shiroudian, master of caviar for over half a century.
By Romain Rivière
If emptying the sea with a spoon is impossible, bringing the sea to the lips on a mother-of-pearl spoon its best elixir is on the other hand the fruit of the know-how of the greatest caviar houses. This is precisely the mission that the young company Aurea Ova has set itself: to introduce rare or exceptional caviars to a clientele of both non-experts and demanding professionals. Founded in 2016 by two food and rare product enthusiasts, Michel Ferreira, expert in the transportation of precious goods, and Ahmad Shiroudian, master caviar maker with more than fifty years of experience in the most prestigious international houses, Aurea Ova intends to follow the Persian and Russian traditions by offering authentic and noble caviars.
Its caviar masters select the black gold from all over the world, where the best sturgeon are bred, from passionate breeders with whom it has established privileged relationships to guarantee an exclusive supply. Anxious to guarantee an ethical and responsible breeding, it ensures on these farms a quality control allowing to preserve the conditions of breeding of the sturgeon and to make perdure an ancient heritage. Once selected, Aurea Ova receives its caviars in its laboratories, where they are refined until they reach their optimal maturation. Ahmad Shiroudian, with his discerning eye, rigorously watches over the precious grains along their path of revelation. Refining is a fundamental stage: it is at this point in the process that aromas and textures complete their development.
Like the great vintage champagnes or cultured pearls, caviar is not a product but rather a sort of mystery, evolving according to the seasons, the quality and temperature of the water, the sturgeons, the climate and a whole ecosystem, and which requires a long term work before giving birth to the finished product. Thus, there is not one caviar but a multitude of caviars. Aurea Ova has therefore developed a range of eleven exceptional caviars, including a remarkable Royal Kaluga Amour with bronze-colored, crunchy grains and a hazelnut flavor that sparkles in the mouth like the great Osciètre of yesteryear. The Imperial Kaluga Gold, courted by great chefs, is round, unctuous and smooth and melts in the mouth. The jewel of the collection, Imperial Beluga Selection is a rare caviar with a grey hue, whose large grains disappear in the mouth in a symphony of buttery notes and marine flavors.
