Whenpeople think of caviar, they think of elegant parties given bywealthy people. Actually, not all caviar is terribly costly; yousometimes find domestic—home-grown—caviar on buffet tables inall-you-can-eat restaurants. But the best kinds of caviar are veryexpensive indeed.

    Caviaris fish eggs. The top variety comes from three kinds of sturgeonsfound in the Caspian Sea in Russia: beluga, osetra, and sevruga.These fish take between nine and fifteen years to mature and produceeggs. When they do, they generally yield a few pounds of tiny, darkgray eggs apiece. The scarcity of caviar and the long time it takesto harvest are what make caviar expensive. One ounce of beluga cancost around US$50 to US$60 in a retail store.

     Whydo people eat caviar? Some, naturally, are entranced byanything so expensive. But there are also people who appreciate thetaste. Beluga is said to have a creamy, buttery taste. Osetra has anutty flavor. True fans will eat top-quality caviar by itself on drytoast points; the fat from the eggs will moisten the bread.

     Ifyou’ve never tried caviar, you might want to see what aninexpensive type tastes like. Caviar from North American sturgeoncosts less than a third as much as the most expensive Russian types.Some people also call salmon eggs caviar. These slightly larger,bright red eggs are the least expensive of all. If you’re in doubt,go to the nearest fish buffet and see if you can sample them there!