Caviar based on roe from sturgeon has a rich, stormy, and controversial cultural history. The word caviar comes from the Persian mahi xâvyâr, meaning egg-bearing fish (mahi), and originally the term xâvyâr was used for all kinds of fish roe but gradually became the name for a luxury product from sturgeon. Iranian traders called the product khavyar or in Turkish havyar, meaning a powerful cake. The modern spelling “caviar” is actually French but is now part of the international vocabulary.