[Lee Stewart]

Again, oversupply rendered this delicacy "poor people's food." That is, until around 1910, when the sturgeon population crashed from overfishing and the once plentiful eggs—they used to be served as bar food—were impossible to find. This lead to several generations of Americans who may have heard of it but never ate it.

When my mother and I went to Istanbul, while shopping at the famous bazaar we came upon a small "pushcart" vendor selling 2 pound tins of Caviar for $5 US money. Mom bought one and brought it home with us and stuck in in her cedar closet up on a shelf. And there it sat for a number of years until we had a special occasion (can't remember what it was) and she said we should open the Caviar to celebrate. I remember us boiling the eggs and chopping up the yolks and chopping up onions and making toast points, Then we brought out the Caviar. Well . . . whoever had tinned it didn't make it air tight so when we opened the lid - there was this horrible smell. All 2 pounds of it had spoiled!