Answer 1:
It’s a stereotype that affluent people enjoy caviar, similar to our mental image of a billionaire’s wife dressed in pearls and wearing long gloves. Priscilla Chan and Melinda Gates, I believe, despise fish eggs and never eat them. Certain forms of sturgeon roe are available to the middle class, and some are even inexpensive as a delicacy for an appetizer: you wouldn’t eat it for a meal.
Answer 2:
It’s delicious. It tastes like salty, chilly egg yolks, with a creamy texture and, of course, the pebbly texture of entire eggs before you smash them on your tongue.
I’ve never double-checked, but I’m guessing it’s also heavy in calories, fat, and protein. As a result, once salted, it appeals to the majority of human taste buds.
Unfortunately, it takes a long time for a sturgeon to develop sexually, and human desire to consume sturgeon fetuses has put the species in jeopardy. They were once common on Canada’s prairies, but I’ve never heard of one being caught here in my lifetime.
They’re a massive antediluvian relic, and I’m hoping we can rescue them.
(These days, I consume lumpfish and trout roe from Denmark.) I prefer lumpfish if you want a similar flavor profile.)
