But first, our great state is known for a lot of things.

But what would you say if I told you that there is an emerging industry in Kentucky built around caviar, like raw fish eggs caviar?

Well, it's actually a thing.

And yes, I did try it.

So, what's it taste like?

How is it harvested and made?

And how did I handle it?

Let's explore more of the industry behind Kentucky's very own caviar.

[music playing] [music playing] One early morning in Grand Rivers, I set out with our Kentucky Life crew to try something completely new to me, caviar.

Now, as a lifelong Kentucky fella, I can't say I've come across many places that serve it.

But one man in western Kentucky is looking to change all that.

Meet David Fields, owner of America's Best Caviar, an operation he runs locally.

Now here, David aims to show Kentuckians and even the world at large a gem hidden in the rivers of western Kentucky.

And he does so one egg at a time.

So, in simplistic terms, if folks aren't familiar with caviar, what is it?

Where does it come from?

Caviar is fish eggs.

It comes out of anything that the Mississippi River and its tributaries touch.

That's where it kind of originates.

And so, right here, we're right at the Ohio River.

So, we have the Tennessee River, the Cumberland River, the Mississippi River, all within just like 45 minutes of the market.

The fish that are used to produce caviar here, what kind of fish are used for that?

What we call the American sturgeon, which is you're going to hear a hackleback sturgeon.

Now, that is in the river.

That is not in the lakes.

That is in the river system.

The paddlefish comes from the lakes and the rivers.

So, I've never had caviar.

When I tried for the first time, what am I in for?

And if somebody is, not me, scared to try it, what do you do to kind of get them over the hump?

I think a lot of people are scared.

So, the first thing that I would do is pair it with something that is going to guarantee you a good flavor.

Let's just pair it with something to give you an idea of what the taste is, because 100% of the people that I've given it to that's never had it says, “Wow, I never thought it would taste like that.” But before I could try the caviar, there was some work to be done.

Local fishermen drove in after a windy morning on the river.

David pulled a number of paddlefish from the boats, measuring each one to make sure they met state regulations.

Then, it was time to get our hands dirty.

Well, at least it was for David.

He cut open each fish and pulled out large egg sacs worth their weight in gold.

I was astounded by how much each fish produced.

Next, it's time to process the caviar.

Okay, we're just going to individualize these eggs.

We're just going to get them off the pouch.

And I guess the technical term would be screen.

Okay, so basically there's a fine line into how aggressive you can be.

And every pouch is different.

You can try if you want.

Okay.

[music playing] So is that about the█ Yeah, yeah.

You kind of figure it out, you know, as you go.

And you don't rub real hard, it's just kind of... You kind of get the feel for it through there.

Yeah.

So, David, walk me through what we're doing right now.

Okay, I'm just removing the impurities from the eggs and I'm washing them.

Okay.

So, we have membrane, just bits and pieces of things.

We have poor eggs.

We have immature eggs.

All that stuff is going to float, and we're just pouring it off.

And so, once they're clean and they're clean to where I think they are, or where they should be, then we [crosstalk] with the salt.

So, you mix the salt in, and then at this point, is it ready for packaging?

Not yet.

We're going to let it cure, lay it out, and let it dry because what the salt is going to do, it's going to dehydrate that egg.

Right.

So, you're going to see here in just a second, see how it's dry.

But as the more that I stir, it becomes, for lack of a better term, wetter and wetter.

Okay.

What it's doing is it's dehydrating that egg.

After dehydrating the eggs, David poured thousands of dollars' worth of caviar onto simple parchment paper.

He spread the eggs out flat underneath a fan to cure them.

And in just a few minutes, the caviar was ready for packaging, which also meant it was ready to eat.

David, why am I nervous about this?

I don't know.

I am, I am.

It looks amazing.

I'm anxious to try it, but I'm a little nervous about this.

I think, you know, a lot of people are a little apprehensive about it because they have -- we have these preconceived notions of what we think something is going to be like.

Right.

It's not going to be what you think it's going to be.

Tell me what to expect.

I think you're going to get a richness.

I think you're going to get a little bit of salt.

And then, you're going to kind of feel the flavor hit you.

It's going to -- you're going to feel the depths of flavor.

It's going to be a little salty at first, I think.

And then, it's going to be creamy.

But then, if you're going to kind of get that earthy.

So, the flavor evolves as you.

Absolutely.

All right.

Let's give it a shot.

Cheers, brother.

Cheers.

Here we go.

[music playing] It's not at all like I thought it was going to be.

You said that's what I was going to say.

It's not fishy at all.

I feel the earthy part that you were talking about.

That's really good.

That's really good.

Yeah.

Wow.

That is amazing.

And when was that in the river?

That was in the river like an hour ago.

[laughs] Not anymore.

[chewing] No, that's legit.

Yeah?

It's really good.

To top off my caviar experience, I took a trip to the Paducah restaurant Freight House to visit renowned chef Sara Bradley.

This Kentucky native is a Food Network star, winning their series Chopped and appearing on multiple seasons of Top Chef.

I wanted to learn more about dining on caviar, how she utilizes it, and getting people to try it for the first time.

So, wild-caught caviar like this versus farm-raised, what are the differences and what are the nuances there?

I mean, I think it's the same as like, you know, when you go out and you find like wild blackberries Right.

and they're just tiny and they're just packed with so much flavor and so much sugar, and they're like warm, you know, you're picking them off the thing and they have -- they're different or the way like sweet corn is to like commodity corn.

I think wild-caught caviar just possesses something that they'll never get out of farm-raised, and it's because it tastes different when you eat it in the summer than when you do -- when you eat it in the winter.

Like, the fat content that's around the eggs is different.

Farm-raised, it's so controlled.

You know, Kentucky is known for all its agriculture, right?

We've got all this agriculture.

We have, you know, more cows than anybody else on this side of the Mississippi.

You know, like we have so much agriculture.

This isn't really an agricultural product because it's wild.

I mean, it's, you know, it's so different.

It's one of those products that is so refined, and that by people seeing that this comes out of Kentucky, it gives, you know, a little refinement, a little mystique to our region.

Tell me how you serve this in the restaurant.

How do you like to use this when it's available?

Okay.

So, we've got a couple different things here for you.

We're going to start out with our kind of our savor stuff.

Okay.

So, deviled eggs, right?

And I know that sometimes people can kind of -- it's kind of hard, you know, to maybe get people to eat caviar.

So, you start with something that everyone's comfortable with, right?

You know, there's just a tiny bit of mustard in the filling itself.

Right.

And then, on top, we have some little little butter-fried cheese crackers.

Oh, wow.

I think that if you want somebody to taste something that they're not so sure about, you hit them with nostalgia.

These are Cheez-Its.

They have like blackening seasoning, which always pairs really well with any kind of seafood item.

Also, we're not doing like where we're eating it right off the spoon.

You know, there's other flavors there.

So, may be not so overwhelming.

But cheers, deviled egg.

Cheers.

Let's try it.

I like it.

Let's see what we got here.

[music playing] Hmm, that is really good.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, my gosh, that's really good.

[laughs] Wow.

You just do one of those deviled eggs, you do a whole bunch.

I'm doing more now.

Oh, that is good.

So, you get it.

You get like.

Wow.

That it's there, but it's not like screaming.

It's not over -- it's not.

It's not screaming.

Nothing like eating it straight out of the tin.

It's not even close to that.

Which, that is luxury right there.

Right, right.

That doesn't happen that often that you've got like, you know, huge tins of caviar in front of you and you're just dolloping it out.

That's really good.

What do we have here?

We have some hibiscus sesame ice cream.

So, let me get this straight.

[laughs] Caviar ice cream.

Yeah, why not?

Like, you just -- your amazing palate just picked up on that sweetness.

Okay.

So, like I was saying, it has a nuttiness to it.

It does?

Sesame and caviar are perfect pairing.

Right.

What I love about hibiscus is if we went out and we drove around Paducah right now, everybody's hibiscus are blooming.

This was just harvested yesterday.

Oh, wow.

The hibiscus are all over the city.

So, if it grows together, it goes together.

That is really good.

Right.

And what two things love each other, salt and sugar.

Yeah, I'm picking up on both of them right now.

Yeah.

A little bit of salt.

The sugar kind of kicks in the beginning, and then the salt kind of chases it there at the end.

Yeah.

And you know, like we said, this doesn't have a fishy flavor to it.

It doesn't.

So, it's not like you're putting, you know, weird fish on it.

What you're getting is that salt, that salinity.

Absolutely.

And that kind of like, this is delicious.

This is really good.

So, let's recap.

Caviar in Kentucky, believe it or not, it's really a thing.

And after tasting it for the first time, I can see why.

Learning about the process was interesting, and getting hands-on in the processing of fish eggs that I would eat just minutes later is an experience I won't soon forget.

[music playing]