-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email This article originally appeared on FoodPrint . For the glory of acquiring highly prized sturgeon eggs, countless clashes and crimes have transpired across the globe, from coffin-crammed capers to revisionist religion . Salt-cured sturgeon roe — better known as caviar — is an epicurean delicacy that first appeared in Greek writings of 3rd Century BCE and has been de rigueur in the lifestyles of the rich and famous ever since, thanks to the relative rarity of the slow-growing fish and the work required to harvest its eggs.
But these days, this delicacy is going more mainstream: Next-generation caviar experiences trade the luxury provision’s classical utensils, whether mother-of-pearl spoon or blini pancake, for the likes of a Pringles potato chip. You might see caviar mixed, perhaps blasphemously , into the tartar sauce on a viral fish sandwich . It has also been fetishized in food festivals and social media through the caviar “bump”: a small dollop of so-called “black gold” placed on the back of the hand for consumption (a traditional tasting method used by fisherman and roe buyers).
The global caviar market is expected to double in value to nearly $1 billion by 2033. In a virtuous world, every last buttery bead would be sustainably produced through sturgeon aquaculture rather than from threatened wild populations, per the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The global treaty was created in 197.