Caviar is the roe of sturgeons, fish belonging to the order of Acipenseriformes, which comprises more than two dozen species.

Indulgence in fine Caviar is ancient. The Caspian Sea produces the most exquisite Imported Caviar derived from this historical body of water. Great empires have enjoyed the coast of the Caspian for thousands of years. The term Caviar is most evidently understood to have derived from the Persian language. Khaya-Avar, means "egg bearing". On the coast of the South Caspian, the pearls of the Persian Sturgeon have been known to maintain a woman's beauty and provide stamina to men. Caviar has been considered a souce of great nutrients as these small jewels maintain the formula that creates the astonishing Sturgeons whom are older than dinosaurs.

CITES
All sturgeon are endangered or threatened due to over fishing, poaching, black market trading, and loss of habitat. Currently only two sturgeon species are banned from harvesting, Acipenser brevirostrum and Acipenser sturio. Other species are protected by CITES. CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Countries may export caviar if they can prove that doing so is not detrimental to the survival of the species. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service must inspect all caviar coming into the United States. Their forensics laboratories have methods of determining the species and country of origin of the caviar.

Malossol Caviar
Malossol is a traditional Russian term. It refers to caviar that has very little salt. With modern refrigeration and sanitation techniques, the amount of salt needed as a preservative is not as great as it once was, and is generally around 3%.

Caviar Today
The future of Caviar is farmed Caviar. The consumer can now receive ethical, fresh, consistent, and well priced quality Caviar. The factors to determine quality are Species, Origin and Processing Method