Year: 1877

IS fully explained the process by which caviar is manufactured. The same writer also gives a detailed account, in the manner in which isinglass is manu- factured from fish bladders.

 Says Professor Milner: "The pro- cess in preparing tho roe for caviar is quite simple. There are two kinds of caviar manufactured-the fresh or grain and the pressed caviar. In both cases the roe of the several kinds of sturgeon is spread out on net with narrow meshes, forming a sieve and stretched over a wooden frame. An essential point in the manufacture of caviar seems to be the absence of con- tact with all metals. The apparatus at Sandusky, Ohio, where large quanti- ties are manufactured, consisting of a sieve made like ordinary wire sieves, substituting horse hair in place of the wire. The eggs are passed through meshes by slightly pressing the whole mass until nothing remains on the sieve but the membranes of the ovaries, fat and muscular tissues. In the pro- cess used at Sandusky, different sized meshes were used, and in the operation a larger mesh was employed first, re- ducing the mesh each time until finally the eggs would pass through meshes of no larger diameter than themselves. In this way the smaller particles of mem- brane and tissue are left and the eggs are gathered entirely free into tubs be- meath. The eggs are left short time on the sieve to drain. For manufactur- ing grained caviar, the roe is sprinkled with very fine salt Liverpool rock salt ground). The whole mass, after the salt is sprinkled on, is stirred with a wooden fork having prongs. The quantity of salt required varies accord ing to the season. In August they take from to pounds of salt to 36 pounds of roe, 34 to 21a pounds in winter. The less the fresh cavair is salted the more it is esteemed. The roe mixed with salt presents a doughy appearance when stirred up, but when every grain has been impregnated with salt, the whole mass swells, and in stirring slight noise is perceptible, like that of stirring small grains of glass. The noise is a sign that the caviar is ready. It is then packed in casks made of linden wood which does not impart any bad flavor to it, which is not the case with casks made of other wood. Our bass wood lumber would, in all probability, an- swer the same purpose. For manu- featuring pressed caviar, tub half filled with brine is placed under the sieve, the brine being stronger or weaker according to the temperature and the season. To impregnate the grains evenly with brine, the whole mass is stirred with wooden fork, al- ways turning it from the same side. The grains are taken out with fine sieves, and after the whole brine has been drained, 10S pounds of grain are put in rack made of the bark of the linden, placed under the press in order to get all the brine out of the caviar and to transform it to a solid mass. In thus pressing the caviar large number of grains are crushed, and portion of their contents flows out with the brine, so that there is always more or less loss. After having taken the pressed caviar from the sacks, it is packed in casks containing thirty pounds each, the inside ot which is covered with napkin linen, this being the reason why the caviar is also called napkin caviar. The finest quality of pressed caviar, that which has been least pressed and salted, is placed in straight linen bags of cylindrical shape, and is then called "pressed caviar." Caviar is also shipped in tin boxes, dramatically closed and soldered. The fattest caviar is that made during the hot season from the roe of those kind of sturgeon which are caught in the sea between the 9th of July and the 18th of August.

 In speaking of the manufacture of islnglass, the same writer says: "The manufacture of isinglass from the bladders of fish, is everywhere carried on among the fish establishments at Sandusky. The methods employed seem to be merely keeping the bladders stretched tightly upon a board, and then with knife scraping off the mem- brane from the outer surface. They are spread upon a clean board and al- lowed to dry. The principal use of that prepared in this way is for brew ers' purposes in clarifying ales and malt liquors. First, the swimming | hIoIJar of tLa fcb iS tbroun into yu q to F where it is left for several days, the water being frequently changed in or der to detach all the fatty and bloody particles from the bladder-the hotter the water the quicker this is done. The bladders are taken out, cut lengthwise into strips, and then exposed to the sun and air. These strips or leaves are usually spread o ut in order to dry them with their outer sides on small boards of linden wood. The inner side is formed by leaves of pure isinglass, which, after having been well-dried, are carefully detached from the outer side. The leaves of the isinglass thus linen to preserve them from the flies and from dust. They are then placed under press and it is only after these different operations have been per- formed that the laborer proceeds to pick the leaves and tie them in bundles. These bundles of isinglass produced from the large sturgeon, are usually composed of from ten to fifteen leaves, and weigh one and half pounds each, while those of the common sturgeon contain twenty-five leaves, and weigh one pound each. The swimming blad- der deprived of it's inner skin that is of the inner shining cuticle of which isinglass is made, as already described, still contains certain quantity of glue