Caviar, of course, is the eggs of sturgeon which from the earliest times thrived in American waters. Indian mothers used to wean their babies on sturgeon roe, and early settlers used the eggs as bait for other fish. Sturgeon steaks were nicknamed Albany beef because the abundant fish became such a mainstay in the colonial diet. In fact, sturgeon were so commonplace that children used to play football with the muzzles of the fish in the streets of New York.

In the "Gay 90's" people began to take their caviar more seriously. Along with champagne, it became the ultimate celebratory food, and as its popularity exploded, American caviar producers were pressed to meet the demand. By the end of the nineteenth century, the United States was the largest producer of caviar in the world, processing more than 600 tons a year.

Though American caviar was of high quality, Russian caviar had the loftiest reputation. In a shrewd and arguably unethical move, U.S. caviar fisheries shipped most of its product to Europe and imported it back again with Russian caviar labels. In fact, in 1900, ninety percent of the so-called Russian caviar marketed here and in Europe was actually coming from the Delaware River. The product was so wildly popular that fisheries self-destructed by depleting the North American sturgeon to near extinction.

In spite of these severe conditions (in addition to the modern problem of water pollution), the American sturgeon has managed to persevere with the help of conservation, fishing regulation and controlled sturgeon "farms." This indomitable fish, whose prehistoric appearance make it look like a featured player in Jurassic Park, has been gliding through-out the waters of the Northern Hemisphere for more than 100 million years. The female can weigh more than a ton and grow to a length of 30 feet making it the largest fresh-water fish in the world (although our domestic sturgeon rarely tip the scales at more than 500 pounds). Sturgeon also have the longest lifespan and have been known to live a century and a half. A handful of the twenty-five different species of sturgeon reside in American waters and are sometimes referred to as shovelnosed cats and paddlefish. Some varieties are strictly fresh water while others are ocean dwelling, but swim back upriver to spawn.

Today, American caviar is making a comeback through the cultivation of farm-raised sturgeon in the rivers of the Ozarks and the Pacific Northwest. The population is carefully controlled, and efforts are underway to develop a method to harvest the roe without killing the fish.
 

The fishing season for caviar producing sturgeon varies with the water temperature, but usually runs between October and June. Caviar is harvested from mature females (over 20 years old) who measure six or more feet long and weigh 75 to 100 pounds, with about 10 percent of that weight being roe. In the last 20 years, American caviar production has again soared from about five thousand pounds to 75 thousand pounds, with the largest processing plant located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

American caviar sells for about $4 to $16 per ounce - a bargain compared to the $40 per ounce price tag commanded by Beluga from the Caspian Sea. And while its quality may not quite measure up to its Russian counterpart, American caviar is still a treat to be savored.

Maybe it's time to make caviar the ultimate happy hour food once again.