Amanda McGee, age 10, of Freeport, I11., for her question:

WHAT IS CAVIAR?

Caviar is the salted eggs of sturgeon and other large fish. Before the caviar is prepared as a food, it is called roe.

Caviar has been a popular food item in Russia for hundreds of years. The cost was very high because not much was obtainable from sturgeons found in the immediate area. For this reason it was a rare delicacy.

Since the 1800s, caviar has been made in quantity from the roe of lake sturgeon in the United States.

To prepare caviar, the roe is rubbed through a screen to free the eggs from an enclosing tissue. Then they are washed, rubbed with salt and drained, dried and packed.