Sophie Karbstein ’26 and Professor of Russian and Eurasian Studies Jessica Graybill are sharing a unique faculty-led research experience this summer: they’re surveying the cultural and environmental dimensions of Russian caviar.
Known for producing the most expensive caviar on the market, Russia’s fish egg industry is at the center of the eight-week research experience, derived from Graybill’s scholarly interests.
“I’m a geographer by training,” Graybill explains, “and my interests lie in how environments and cultures interact.”
Graybill will mentor Karbstein — a former student who took her FSEM on Silk Roads — as they conduct a literature review and partnered analysis.
“One of the reasons I was interested in this project was because I had worked with Professor Graybill before,” says Karbstein, who also participated in Graybill’s extended study to Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. “Research-wise, I’m interested in the countries around the Caspian Sea, where there’s a lot of sturgeon that make caviar.”
Karbstein spends her days reading books on the history of caviar, taking detailed notes and organizing them into environmental, cultural, and commodity-related categories. Her work will contribute to Graybill’s forthcoming book, which will combine these points into a cohesive narrative.
So far, the duo has uncovered much about the cultural construction of luxury.
“Although Russian caviar is perceived as the best, caviar from farms in other regions can be just as good, if not better, based on its flavor and texture,” says Karbstein, who describes good caviar as having a “firm and not mushy” texture as well as a salty, rich flavor profile. “Resources are always cultural as well as environmental,” adds Graybill, “so they aren’t inherently valuable until humans make them so.”
According to Graybill, caviar extraction has been happening for centuries — it started with proto-Russians and other populations. But during the Soviet era, the resource became a luxury commodity, endangering the sturgeon that provide the roe, or eggs.
“The sturgeon populations around the Caspian Sea that had become endangered are now protected,” says Graybill. “This restricts production and makes true Russian caviar an even greater luxury good."
With this in mind, Karbstein and Graybill remain curious about the connection between fish eggs and high prices. “Is caviar a diamond?” asks Graybill, who wonders how best to synthesize the social-construction and ethics of the caviar market throughout history. “Caviar’s journey from resource to luxury is a testament to human ingenuity and its impact on natural environments,” she says.