Every Question You've Ever Had About Caviar, Lined Up In A Roe

Why is this delicacy so easily and cheaply available now? What should the good stuff taste like? And how does China fit in?

- Vir Sanghvi

There was a time when caviar was considered a rare delicacy. Even among the wealthy, it was a special-occasion food, reserved for celebrations.

All that has now changed. Suddenly, caviar is ubiquitous on global restaurant menus. This is because the real price of caviar (adjusted for inflation) is probably a third of what it was at the turn of the century.

What accounts for the boom? How should you enjoy caviar? Some answers to frequently asked questions.

What is caviar?

Caviar is the roe of the sturgeon, a fish now found all over the world. It swims wild in the Caspian Sea, which used to be bound by Iran and the Soviet Union. In the old days, production was tightly controlled by these two countries. The Iranians did not export much caviar, so the Soviet Union had a virtual monopoly. It controlled the fishing, canning and export of caviar and effectively, fixed the price.

What happened when the Soviet Union collapsed?

The land bordering the Caspian Sea was taken over the various newly independent republics. They let sturgeonfishing become a free-for-all. In the short run, the price of caviar dropped. But in the medium term, over-fishing destroyed the sturgeon population. Russia restricted the export of caviar, wild sturgeon became an endangered species.

So why is there a boom now?