Caviar is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the sturgeon family. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread.Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. (Beluga, Ossetra and Sevruga caviars). Depending on the country, caviar may also be used to describe the roe of other species of sturgeon or other fish such as salmon, steelhead, trout, lumpfish, whitefish, or carp.

Caviar is extremely perishable and must be kept refrigerated until consumption.

Pressed caviar is composed of damaged or fragile eggs and can be a combination of several different roes. It is specially treated, salted, and pressed.

Malossol is a Russian word that quite literally translates to "little salt". It is often used to describe caviar as sturgeon roe must be treated with salt in order to become caviar. Thus, the term "Malossol" was born, to inform both buyers and sellers that the caviar had not been overly salted (between 3-5%) and was of the highest quality and taste.