Devil Fruit of the City

"The more advanced the caviar, the rounder and fuller the particles, the clear and transparent color, and even a slightly golden luster, so people are used to comparing caviar to "black gold", but now ..." Hearing this, Tang Tianyou said with a smile, "This statement has turned into a ridicule of the expensive price of this delicious food."

expensive?

Zhao Feng thought it was right, if it wasn't for entertaining Tang Tianyou, he wouldn't have prepared such an expensive dish at all. You must know that when he heard the price of caviar, he was a rich man, and he was a rich man when he was born. Holding the golden key, a lot of money was spent, and it was a lot of shock.

"It is well known that caviar is delicious." Tang Tianyou said, "Naturally...such delicious food will be loved and sought after by people."

"Even if the sea is endlessly huge, it can't resist the greed that human beings can never satisfy. Therefore, the raw material for making caviar, the sturgeon, has been decreasing for several centuries. "  Urban Devil Fruit 259

Zhao Feng nodded thoughtfully.

"What's more serious... the growth of sturgeon is slow. It takes about 18 to 20 years to grow from a juvenile to a fish that is big enough to mature and lay eggs."

Tang Tianyou said with emotion, "After such a long process of growth and gestation, it is not easy to live well when the overfishing situation in the Caspian Sea is becoming more and more serious. Ancestors must accumulate virtue."

"So, the only waters on earth where a large number of sturgeon can be found are the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and the Gironde River in France."

After listening, Zhao Feng asked: "The wild sturgeon has been caught, don't they know how to raise it? Since the market for caviar is so big, it must be profitable."

"Naturally, this happens." Tang Tianyou spread his hands, "After the news of the sharp decline in the wild sturgeon population in the Caspian Sea was exposed to the global media, the gourmets who want to taste the delicious caviar before the extinction of the sturgeon are even more excited. There are many, and science has made great progress in this situation."

"As a result, the sturgeon farming technology began to flourish. In the early days of the former Soviet Union's farming development, the focus was on the cultivation and release of juvenile sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. Of course, this stupid thing of releasing fish for others to catch cannot be done anymore, so the focus A full shift to rearing caviar-producing adult fish."

"But the sturgeon is not easy to deal with. If I remember correctly, it takes seven to nine years for a normal-grade sturgeon to reach maturity. If you want to produce a beluga-grade caviar, you need to raise a 20-year-old caviar." to 60 years."

"Hehe... Do you really want to, or do you have the money to raise a fish like this? It's no better than leaving brandy or whiskey there for 30 years. You have to feed it every day, and you have to worry about it getting sick. You can only raise it yourself Children are raised in such a way. Therefore, under the entanglement of financial and technical problems, there is still no good solution to the problem at present."

Zhao Feng nodded. He understood the psychology of these sturgeon farming businessmen very well. It is common sense in the world for businessmen to seek profit, but if the technology is not up to the mark, no matter how big the profit is, they can only do it in a hurry.

"It is precisely because of this situation that the number of wild sturgeon has decreased sharply." Tang Tianyou said, "In 1985, the Soviet Union produced more than 650 tons of caviar, and Iran could produce another 350 tons."

"However, in 1997, Russia's official caviar production has been reduced to 250 metric tons, while Iran has only 120 metric tons. The abnormal weather conditions in the past two years have further reduced caviar production, and the output may have dropped to only 200 metric tons. , of which 120 metric tons came from Russia."

"According to the estimates of the Swiss Caviar House, an authoritative gourmet chain store, the current global demand for caviar should be around 350 metric tons, while the production volume is only 200 metric tons."

"The more something is in short supply, the more it attracts people's attention." Zhao Feng said with emotion, "But if this continues to be caught, won't the sturgeon be extinct? Isn't there no contingency measure?"

"There were originally." Tang Tianyou said with a smile, "But due to the disintegration of the former Soviet regime, the production and fishing system of sturgeon caviar in the Caspian Sea that was under the jurisdiction of the Soviet "government" also collapsed."

"And then it's anyone's guess what happens to these sturgeon with caviar that retails for $3,000 a kilo."

"In the past, there were only two countries that fished sturgeon in the Caspian Sea - the former Soviet Union and Iran. Now it is divided into five countries, namely Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran."

"So the current situation is that except for Iran, there are almost no legal restrictions in other countries. A bunch of poachers catch sturgeon illegally. Anyway, no one cares if you catch them. In the end, it became a national movement that everyone caught up with."

"Three thousand dollars per kilogram?!" Zhao Feng didn't listen carefully, only heard such a sensational figure.  Urban Devil Fruit 259

"Yes." Tang Tianyou nodded and said, "As I said before, caviar is known as "black gold". Among them, caviar produced from white sturgeon is sold for more than 830 US dollars per kilogram in the Moscow market, while in London, England, the price per kilogram is 830 US dollars. A kilogram can even be sold for an astonishing price of more than $5,000."

"Even... some fully mature beluga sturgeon are about 60 years old, can be more than 4 meters long, and weigh nearly 1 ton. The caviar produced by this level is not rare or expensive. More needs to be said."

"That is to say..." Tang Tianyou looked at the caviar in front of him with a strange expression, "The plate of caviar we ate just now is equivalent to eating a few months' wages of ordinary people."

So, if a friend or relative is in front of you and treats you to caviar instead of enjoying it alone, then he must be putting on a show in front of you, and there is no doubt about it.

"Mr. Tang, it is thanks to you that I can eat such delicious food." Zhao Feng said with emotion.

"Thanks to me?" Tang Tianyou looked at Zhao Feng suspiciously.

"Yes." Zhao Feng smiled. "There is something I forgot to tell you. In fact, I didn't order someone to make this breakfast today, but my father specially ordered the chef to make it for you."

Some people may find it strange that Zhao Feng was born in such a wealthy family. Zhao's jewelry is well-known all over the country. There are hundreds of chain stores. The funds it has passed through are calculated in billions. Jewelry is so difficult for ordinary people to buy even if they spend all their wealth.

Eating some caviar is indeed a very special thing for ordinary people, but for a rich man of this level, shouldn't it be an easy thing? There is nothing to be fuss about.

In fact, there is a reason for this.