What's the difference between caviar and roe?

Wondering what the difference is between caviar and roe? Maybe you're a newcomer to delights of caviar dining and indeed it can be a journey of discovery understanding the terminology used in gourmet food circles when referring to this particular culinary delicacy.

Basically, the word 'roe' refers to all eggs collected from marine animals whereas 'caviar' is a term used for the cured eggs of particular fish species ie: those belonging to the sturgeon family. Nowadays the term caviar does get attributed to roe from non-sturgeon varieties, such as the Alaskan Salmon, so it can be confusing; in actual fact, we are really talking about 'true sturgeon' when we use the term 'caviar'.

The key sturgeon species whose caviar is enjoyed all over the world are as follows - Beluga, Sevruga, Russian Osetra, American Osetra, Sterlet and Kaluga. Maybe you'll enjoy browsing our caviar section for gourmet inspiration today!