The word caviar came into English in 16th century either from Italian caviale/caviaro or French caviar.  They in turn probably have taken it from either medieval Greek khaviari or from Turkish havyar/khaviar.  The source of the Turkish word is apparently from Persian khāvyār/khāyah/khaviyar where khaya translates as an egg and from middle Persian khayak.  There is an alternative meaning for word caviar, claiming that it come from Persian “Chav-Jar”, which supposedly translates as “cake of power”.  The roots for this word go back to Indo-European group of languages, it is difficult to establish the full history but it is clearly seen that the word has been in use for a very long time.  Sturgeon was in abundance in the whole Northern Hemisphere and consumed by humans long before pyramids of Giza have been build.

The first mentioning of the sturgeon is made by the King Edward II of England, who decreed sturgeon a Royal Fish, whereby all sturgeons found within the foreshore of the Kingdom are property of the monarch.  He didn't only singled out sturgeons but rather selected a group of water animals which included whales, dolphins and porpoises as well.

Sturgeon appeared in many text throughout out of the recorded history.  One of the most profound is in Shakespeare’s Hamlet (act 2, scene 2, 431-440) “I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it was never acted, or if it was, not above once; for the play, I remember, pleas'd not the million, 'twas caviare to the general.”  It was in a dialogue when Hamlet was describing a particular play that he wished to be performed by an actor.  The emphasis was that ordinary people didn't appreciate the play while he and the critics considered it an excellent masterpiece.  The meaning of this phrase can have double meaning, either it was not understood by the people just like they could not appreciate caviar or this play was too trivial for them to notice it.

The first mentioning of the black caviar recipe is by Cristoforo di Messisbugo in his book "Libro novo nel qual si insegna a far d'ogni sorte di vivanda", Venice, 1564, at the page 110, and this even predates the Shakespeare’s Hamlet by almost 40 years.  Probably this is not a surprise, that the Italian's first mentioning of the caviar comes from the recipe book, in the end they are famous for their cuisine.  And lets be honest, it is nice to know that people were actually thinking on how to prepare the food and enjoy the taste, rather then just fill the stomachs.

Until the end of the 19th century, black caviar wasn't mentioned a lot but interesting fact was recorded in America, were it was sold in saloons to make visitors thirstier, due to its saltiness, thus enhancing beer sales.  At that time, America's waters were abundant with sturgeon, a resource that German immigrant Henry Schacht took as an advantage and in 1873, he set up a business exporting caviar to Europe, for the seemingly high price of one dollar per pound. Other entrepreneurs soon followed the suit, and by the end of the nineteenth century, the US was the largest exporter of caviar in the world despite the Long Depression in Western Europe and the North America, which was raging during this time.

During this caviar boom, much of the harvest that was shipped to Europe, was imported right back into the USA again, labeled as the more coveted "Russian caviar." Caviar from the rivers of Russia had always been considered the premium product. In 1900, the state of Pennsylvania issued a report, estimating that 90 percent of the Russian caviar sold in Europe, actually came from the US.

As a result of the US caviar boom of the early 1900's, sturgeon was over-fished nearly to the point of extinction. The sudden shortage caused a wild jump in the price of caviar, with the added result being most of the caviar labeled as Russian truly was imported from Russia. By the 1960's, the prices were so exorbitant that new sources of domestic caviar were sought.