Caviar
Fish eggs (roe). Sturgeon row is the most expensive and "true" caviar, which comes in three varieties, starting with the finest: beluga (large, pea-size silvery-black eggs), osetra (medium-sized grey-brown eggs)and sevruga (small grey eggs). There are other less-expensive varieties: lumpfish has tiny hard black eggs, whitefish has small yellow eggs, and salmon or red caviar is medium-sized with orange to red eggs.
Season
available year-round
How to store
Caviar is extremely perishable and must be refrigerated constantly from the moment it leaves the fish. Pasteurized caviar has been cooked, and would not require refrigeration.
How to prepare
Serve very cold, in a bowl set on ice, usually presented with toast points, lemon wedges, hard-boiled eggs, sour cream and minced onion. Classically accompanied by vodka or champagne.
Matches well with
black bread, blini, cream, hard-boiled eggs, lemon, parsley, potatoes, shallots, smoked salmon, sour cream, toast, vodka