Caviar is processed, salted, non-fertilized roe marketed as a kind of luxury food. According to the Food and Agri-culture Organization, caviar is a product made from salt-cured fish-eggs of the Acipenseridae family. The roe can be “fresh” （non-pasteurized）or economic value.
Traditionally the term caviar only refers to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Seas (Beluga, Ossetra and Sevruga caviar). Depending on the country, caviar may also be used to describe the roe of other fish such as salmon, trout, lumpfish, whitefish, and other species of sturgeon.
Based on flavor, size, consistency and color, prices for caviar range as high as $8,000-$16,000 per kg. Caviar is marketed worldwide as a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread.
Given its high price in the West, caviar is associated with luxury and wealth. In Russia and other Eastern European cultures, though it is expensive, caviar is commonly served at holiday feasts, weddings, and other festive occasions. In Russia, the concept generally includes both sturgeon roe (black caviar )and salmon roe (red caviar ).
Sturgeon-derived caviar is not eaten by some Kosher-observant Jews, because sturgeon possess ganoid scales to replace with the usual cttenoid and cycloid scales (see Kosher animals). There is a discussion about its status in Halacha, since the scales will come off if soaked in lye; however, this does not apply to every roe-yielding fish species.
The Ja`fari school of jurisprudence that predominates in Twelver Shia Islam also stipulates that seafood must have fins and scales. Thus most observant Twelvers do not eat caviar despite of the majority of Twelver Iran is a primary center of the sturgeon-fishing industry and the world`s largest exporter of caviar.
The four main types of caviar are Beluga, Sterlet, Ossetra, and Sevruga. The rarest and costliest caviar is from beluga sturgeon that survived in the Caspian Sea, which is bordered by Iran, Kazakjstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. Wild caviar production has now survived only in Azerbajan and Iran as Russia maintains a self-imposed ban on caviar trade from wild sturgeon. Beluga caviar is prized for its soft, extremely large (pea-size ) eggs. Its color can range from pale silver-gray to black. It is followed by the small golden starlet caviar which is rare and was once reserved for Russian czars, Iranian shahs and Austrian emperors. Next in quality is the medium-sized, gray to brownish osetra (ossetra), and the last in the quality ranking is smaller, gray sevruga caviar.
Due to the extremely high cost of sturgeon caviar, cheaper alternatives have been developed from the roe of whitefish to the North Atlantic salmon. In the wake of overfishing, the harvest and sale of black caviar was banned in Russia in 2007 but resumed in 2010, limited to 150 kg (330 Ibs).
在24種鱘魚中，只有1/8的魚種所產的魚卵可以用來制作魚子醬，這使得魚子醬相當稀有。因此顆粒飽滿圓滑，色澤透明清亮的、黑黑的魚子醬在過去僅僅是黃市里的佳肴。黃金奧斯特拉（Ossertra）魚子醬更是這類魚子醬中非常稀有的一種，其魚子呈金黃色且味道濃烈。加之含有皮膚所需要的微量元素、礦物質、蛋白質等，可以讓你的膚質“返老還童”。
魚子醬的歷史
The world “caviar “ comes into English from the Italian in the 16th century, but it ultimately stems from the Persain word for egg. Although the Persian term technically refers to both the sturgeon and the roe, it has come down into English meaning only for the egg. Caviar from fish other than the sturgeon usually has an adjective naming such origins, such as “salmon caviar”.
This exclusive trend continued for centuries. In the Middle Ages, many European countries required those who obtained caviar to offer ot to the sovereign. King Edward II of England (1284-1330) is one who gave such a decree. Even when and where the rules were historically the primary consumers. Czar Nicholas II (1868-1918 ) collected an annual tax from fishermen in the form of caviar.
It was not until the early 19th century that there was a change in the exclusiveness of caviar patrons. Sturgeons were found in both the Delaware and Hudson Rivers. A short time later, the Columbia River in Oregon became a source. There was such an abundant supply that Canada and the U.S. were the major suppliers of caviar to Europe during this period.
A lot of the fish were harvested for the caviar that by 1906, a ban was placed on commercial sturgeon fishing. The 1906 ban was not enough to counter the depopulation of sturgeon that had already taken place. However, the number continued to dwindle. In the 1960s, the price rose sharply due to low supply. Soon more drastic steps had to be taken, as even the Caspian, home to at least 90% of the world`s population of sturgeon, began to see a serious drop in numbers of fish.
由于現代捕撈技術的進步與魚子醬的美味誘惑，人們對這種色澤閃亮的精美佳肴的需求不斷增加，加上環境污染，偷獵者和過度捕撈，鱘魚（特別是大白鱘在）的數量迅速遞減。而且母鱘魚需要長達十二年的時間來孕育和生產卵，因此魚子醬也越來越珍惜。
Something about Caviar 關于魚子醬
Caviar is a luxury delicacy, consisting of processed, salted, non-fertilized sturgeon roe.
魚子醬是一種珍饈美味，是用鹽腌過的未受精的鱘魚卵加工制成的。
Salmon roe is marketed as analogous to caviar.
鮭魚卵被作為魚子醬的類似產品推向市場。
Most true caviar is produced in Russia and Iran, from sturgeon taken from the Caspian and Black seas.
所有貨真價實的魚子醬都是在俄羅斯及伊朗由里海、黑海捕獲的鱘魚中出產的。
A large white sturgeon (Huso huso ) of the Black and Caspian seas, whose roe is processed into caviar.
黑海和里海產的一種大型白鱘（歐鰉鰉屬），其卵可加工成魚子醬。
Unlike many fad treatments, caviar is caviar is actually proven to work as a conditioning therapy.
與很多流行的護發用品不同的是，魚子醬被證明具有狐貍治療的功效。
Caviar, diamonds and gold have long been associated with the luxuries in life.
魚子醬、鉆石和黃金一直是生活中的奢侈品。
Russia temporarily stopped exporting black caviar and halted commercial fishing of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea in an effort to save the fish from extinction.
為了保護鱘魚，使之免于滅絕，俄羅斯暫時停止了黑魚子醬的出口，并停止在里海的商業性的捕魚行動。
