ANNA SACHER: How to not Eat Caviar

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Let’s be real—most people haven’t the faintest idea how to eat caviar. They fumble through it like it’s some luxury they have to tolerate, slapping those exquisite little fish eggs onto a piece of bread, maybe even tossing in some onion or, God forbid, sour cream. Honestly, at this point, why not just settle for a slice of toast mit Sardellenpaste? It tastes like fish too. But caviar? Caviar deserves respect.

Enter Anna Sacher—yes, that Anna Sacher, of Hotel Sacher Wien fame (Anna Sacher née Fuchs; 2 January 1859 — 25 February 1930, Austrian hotel owner and proprietor, Confidante of the aristocracy and the imperial family, widow of Eduard Sacher, defender of the original recipe for the Sachertorte, and the first woman to lead Vienna's most legendary hotel),

She knew better. She didn’t just serve caviar; she treated it like a ritual, a sacred experience. And you? You’re out here desecrating it with forks, silver spoons, and worse—onions. Let’s rewind. The first mistake? Slapping it on bread like it’s some afterthought. You’ve already lost the plot! To truly unlock the taste, you have to flip it over. Yes, FLIP IT. Let the eggs meet your tongue where the magic happens. But, of course, then the caviar slides off the bread. Beautiful! Because guess what? Bread was never meant to be there in the first place.

Now, let's get serious. Are you really using a silver spoon? Silver oxidises, genius, and leaves behind that delightful metallic aftertaste. Tastes like you’ve licked a battery, doesn’t it? Anna Sacher would be rolling in her grave. She knew: only a tortoiseshell spoon would do. Smooth, no oxidation, no nonsense. And don’t even think about reaching for a fork—you might as well be wielding a chainsaw at this point. Forks pierce the delicate eggs. It’s an act of culinary barbarism!

Oh, and those who swear by sour cream and butter to “enhance” the experience? You’re walking on thin ice. Blini—plural of blin, by the way, not blinis—just another excuse to drown the caviar’s flavour in distractions. If you need all that extra stuff, why are you even here? Why not just tuck into a humble sardine? More your speed, isn’t it?

But let’s return to the truth of the matter. Anna Sacher understood this. She knew that to appreciate caviar, you had to ditch the bread, forget the blini, and keep it simple. No onions, no gimmicks. You scoop a bite onto the back of your thumb and let the delicate eggs melt on your tongue. That’s the mark of someone who respects the caviar.

Anna Sacher as pictured on the cover of THE SACHER TREASURY