Bubbles and eggs at Petit Philippe in Charlotte
In Charlotte, Mark Meissner, along with his wife Casey Hickey, runs Petit Philippe, a shop that specializes in indulgence, from wine to chocolate to caviar. We stopped by to taste how different styles of Champagne and sparkling wine impacted the experience of enjoying Marshallberg Farms’ osetra caviar and we also played around with various ways to serve the delicacy.
Mark arranged water crackers, blinis and toast points around the caviar tin along with minced egg yolk, minced shallot, chives and creme fraiche.
The idea is to find a relatively bland base for your caviar and to garnish with items that spotlight the rich sea-forward, but not fishy, flavor of the salt-cured sturgeon roe. It’s also important to take caviar’s delicate texture into consideration — you want to be able to feel the tiny eggs pop in your mouth, so anything too crunchy or even too soft would take away from that experience. Also, when you’re serving caviar, use a shell, wooden, or other non-reactive spoon. It may seem like you’re trying to be fancy, but if you use a silver spoon, for example, the metal will interact with the caviar and impact the flavor.
So believe it or not, it was the potato chips that stood out as the perfect perch for caviar’s delicate flavor and texture. The light saltiness and faint potato-ey-ness of the chips were mild enough to enhance, but not overwhelm the caviar. The next time you pop open a tin, top a lightly salted chip with a dollop of creme fraiche and a generous spoon of caviar and be sure to pair your eggs with bone-dry bubbles.
Side note: Casey has a line of incredible artisan confections, Twenty Degrees Chocolates, and a retail shop in Charlotte at 1930 Camden Road, Suite 135. A must-stop if you’re in the area.
Petit Philippe
2820 Selwyn Ave. #160, Charlotte, NC 28209
704.332.9910