PRICEY PRIDE

AFRICA TOO CAN PROUDLY CLAIM TO BE A SOURCE OF CAVIAR, ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST INDULGENCES. BEING FARMED IN THE FAVORABLE CLIMATE AND TERROIR OF MADAGASCAR ARE SOME VERY EXPENSIVE FISH EGGS A FIRST FOR THE CONTINENT.

Madagascar is known for its tropical landscapes and rich biodiversity, and in culinary terms, it is mostly celebrated for its unbeatable vanilla, pink peppercorns and cinnamon. Yet, the small African island is also the unexpected source of another exclusive luxury food item - caviar. Acipenser is the inspiring, first-ever producer of African caviar, founded by a French trio, Christophe and Delphyne Dabezies, and Alexandre Guerrier, operating out of Ambatolaona, approximately a 90-minute drive from the capital Antananarivo.

Usually served as a garnish, atop blinis and sour cream and often accompanied with champagne or sparkling wine, caviar is one of the world's biggest indulgences. Historically, Russia was known as the world's top producer of caviar, up until 2007, when overfishing led to a ban on the sale and harvesting of black caviar. Since then, China has overtaken as the largest global caviar producer with Italy and the United States not far behind them.

It wasn't until Acipenser's launch in 2017, that Africa could proudly claim to be a source of caviar too. The ambitious idea was first launched in 2009 by Delphyne Dabezies and her husband Christophe, who have been in Madagascar since the end of the 1990s, and their business partner Guerrier. "This somewhat crazy idea of African caviar was born after my husband Christophe saw a documentary about caviar. An obsession then emerged for Alexandre Christophe and myself" says Delphyne. "We wanted to successfully transport fertilized sturgeon eggs from Russia to Madagascar to produce the first caviar in Africa and the Indian Ocean." Despite skepticism from several experts, the trio embarked on their new plan, leveraging the island's natural resources that make it an ideal environment for sturgeon. "Lake Mantasoa... has the ideal terroir and climate for the development of such an operation and is perfectly suited to sturgeon farming," explains Delphyne.