Kaviar, das schwarze Gold Italiens (360° - GEO Reportage)

Few people know that caviar has been a staple of Italian cuisine for centuries – and doesn't even have to be imported: Sturgeon, whose roe form the basis of this delicacy, have been swimming up Italy's longest river, Po, for centuries. Since the fish is threatened with extinction and protected, it can only be obtained from farmed fish. GEO Reportage visited one of Italy's successful sturgeon farmers, whose caviar is now even exported to Russia. A film by Manuel Fenn © 2019, License MedienKontor / ARTE Subscribe to wocomoTRAVEL: https://goo.gl/tIk2Qc Follow us on Facebook:   / wocomo   Almost everyone inevitably associates caviar with luxury and Russia. But where the precious sturgeon eggs are still consumed in large quantities, their production is no longer permitted. Since sturgeon are threatened with extinction due to overfishing in Russia and can no longer be caught, this delicacy has to be imported, including from Italy. Specialized farms there have been perfecting the breeding of this delicate fish since the 1990s, particularly in the vast Po Valley of northern Italy. For several years, considerable financial investment has been made to reintroduce sturgeon into the Po River. The 650-kilometer-long river was traditionally a migratory and spawning ground for sturgeon, which has shaped the region culturally and culinarily for centuries. This impressive species of fish, which existed before the dinosaurs, was only driven out by the industrialization of the river in the 1930s. The sturgeon farm owned by John Giovannini and his brother Sergio is located in Cassolnovo, 30 kilometers west of Milan. 300,000 sturgeons are raised here on an area of ​​35 hectares. They are separated by age, sex, and species, such as the Russian and Adriatic sturgeon. Depending on the species, female sturgeons take between ten and 20 years to reach sexual maturity and produce the coveted fish eggs. The brothers' father began breeding sturgeons. Today, the family is more successful than ever. And they're not the only ones: After China, Italy is now the second-largest caviar producer in the world.