Carrots, cauliflower, caviar.

Some of the food trends of the past decade.

Carrots got roasted and treated like an entrée. Cauliflower became rice, pizza crust, and everything except what it actually is. Now caviar is everywhere, because apparently our food needs accessories.

There was a time when caviar suggested a special occasion, a white tablecloth, and someone else picking up the check. Now it’s turning up on potato chips and chicken nuggets.

Here is the delicious part. Caviar hasn’t always been so pinkies up. In nineteenth-century America, it was plentiful enough to be served free in bars. Salty snacks encouraged drinking. Essentially, caviar was the pretzel bowl with a better future.

Imagine explaining that to someone currently paying a supplement of $25 for six beads on a deviled egg.

Eventually, scarcity and prestige worked their magic. Overfishing devastated wild sturgeon populations, and restrictions on the international caviar trade followed, including major export suspensions in 2006.

Farming became increasingly important.

Unfortunately, sturgeon are not exactly the zucchini of aquaculture. You cannot plant a few in April and spend August begging neighbors to take the surplus. They take years to produce eggs and have exacting requirements. A fish with a lengthy production schedule and strong opinions about its surroundings. I can respect that.

Then China helped change the economics. Its investment in production made it a caviar powerhouse. By 2024, China accounted for approximately 43 percent of global caviar export value. More supply has helped bring down wholesale prices.

Which brings us, inevitably, to McDonald’s.

For Valentine’s Day this year, McDonald’s offered a limited giveaway of McNugget Caviar kits, complete with caviar, crème fraîche, a spoon, and a gift card for the nuggets.

I am all for making something delicious more accessible. You shouldn’t need inherited wealth and a yacht named after your second wife to enjoy a snack.

What amuses me is our collective inability to let a food simply be food. It has to become a movement. An identity. Something photographed for your social media accounts.

Enjoy the caviar. Put it on a chip. Order it with champagne. Have a little moment. The next time someone presents it with an air of unbearable importance, remember, it used to be free bar food.