Although the word caviar has existed in French since the early fifteenth century, and in English since the late sixteenth century, the actual item—sturgeon eggs—was not always considered a high-brow delicacy: in nineteenth-century American saloons, it was given away like peanuts to stimulate a thirst for beer. Later, in the 1920s, Russian princes who had been exiled to Paris complained that they could not buy ikrd, the Russian name for the delicacy; soon, through their political connections, the eggs of Russian sturgeon were flowing into the best restaurants in France, and then into the rest of Europe and North America. The Russian ikrd did not, however, replace the word caviar as the French or English name of the delicacy. In origin, caviar derives from the Turkish word khavyar.
The briny eggs of the sturgeon, cured in salt and known as caviar, are highly prized for their delicate flavor and texture. Sturgeon roe can come in a variety of hues, ranging from small and crimson to large and colored in shades of black, grey, dark green, brown, or yellow. In the country of Russia, the birthplace of caviar, the most esteemed color is a lustrous gold, and the Beluga sturgeon is the most highly regarded for its caviar.
The preserved eggs of the sturgeon, known as caviar, are highly esteemed due to their distinct and rare flavor, although it is an acquired taste and not universally appreciated. The Russian varieties, particularly the processed eggs of the sterlet from the Caspian Sea, are the most sought after, consisting of a cluster of tiny black eggs, each the size of a pinhead. Additionally, beluga and sevruga caviar are also held in high regard. Although once abundant in the United States, the return of sturgeon to the Hudson River has led to the resurgence of caviar production.