Caviar — food of the gods, and relished by lesser mortals too. For centuries the salted roe of the sturgeon has been highly prized — the ancient Phoenicians used caviar to sustain them in times of war and famine; Pliny and Ovid wrote about it; and the Russian Tsars and the Emperors of Manchuria reserved for themselves the delicate golden caviar.

Today caviar is widely available in a bewildering range of quantity, color and flavor. In Caviar Susie Boeckmann and Natalie Rebeiz-Nielsen reveal how to distinguish between the different varieties, how to serve it for optimum flavor and enjoyment, which drinks to offer alongside it; and even how caviar is considered a beauty treatment and aphrodisiac — not for nothing is it called "Aphrodite’s eggs".

Illustrated with fascinating archive material and sumptuous photography, the book offers a complete range of enticing caviar recipes from a simple boiled egg or jacket potato with caviar to exotic canapés, pasta, fish and sushi combinations and that Russian essential, blini with sour cream and caviar.

The art of eating and enjoying caviar has never been made easier.