Caviar anyone?

Sunset + Vegan Caviar + Vino

Thanks to my new Aussie galpal, fellow summer legal intern Mel Knoll, I tasted Vegemite for the first time.  WOW!  S-A-L-T-Y!  I’ll take five gallons of water with that, please!  But, kidding aside, I see that vegemite has potential.  After all, it kind of reminds me of… well, caviar.  Yes, there was a time in my life when I ate caviar and enjoyed it.  The salty smear on a water cracker, with just a touch of crème fraiche to balance the taste.  Simple.  Elegant.  Lovely.  Alas, hardly cruelty-free.

So there I was in the office, licking Vegemite off my finger and chatting about caviar, when another member of our legal team, Lisa Winebarger, enlightened me about Cavi-Art — caviar for vegans, made from seaweed!  We immediately pulled up the web site and tried to figure out how to get our hands on a jar of the stuff.  Pangea’s storefront in the DC area used to carry it, but no more. Thwarted! But once the idea was in my head (and Lisa continued to rave about how good it was), I couldn’t let it go.  I contacted another store in Washington state; they informed me that Cavi-Art was no longer being distributed in the US.  Thwarted again! I emailed Cavi-Art, based in Denmark, directly.  I’m a stubborn Sicilian.

A month later, I was back in Tucson when a BOX of Caviart products arrived at my doorstep. Thanks for all the samples, Cavi-Art!  I made a nice plate of the “black lumpfish” with crackers and some Tofutti cream-cheese substitute.  I opened up a bottle of wine and set the table on our patio so that my husband and I could enjoy this little treat while watching the golds and pinks of a Tucson sunset.  Life is good.

After the sunset, because I still had so much Cavi-Art, I decided to share my good fortune with my fellow law students by setting up a free tasting at school.  Through the student chapter of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, of which I’m currently Co-Director, last Thursday we handed out samples of the various flavors, letting everyone be a little adventurous during lunchtime while they looked over Animal Law materials. Flavors to try included black, wasabi, and balsamic.  (Other flavors available: chili, ginger, yellow, red and salmon).   The consensus: Cavi-Art makes the grade!

Additonal perks of Cavi-Art:

• cholesterol-free
• seaweed is healthy and full of nutrients
• low salt and fat content
• has a long shelf life because it doesn’t contain fish-oil like the real deal
• won’t discolor your dishes like real caviar

Thanks to Mel and Lisa for leading the way to this new fave. Hopefully, Cavi-Art will find a new U.S. distributor soon, and everyone will be able to enjoy this cruelty-free alternative, which is truly a delicacy in its own right.

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