caviar

The roes of certain large fish, prepared and salted. The best is made from the roes of the sterlet, sturgeon, sevruga, and beluga, caught in the lakes of rivers of Russia. The roes are put into a bag with a strong brine, and pressed by wringing, and then dried and put in casks, or into cisterns, perforated at bottom, where they are pressed by heavy weights. The poorest sort is trodden with the feet.