What's The Deal With Eating Caviar For New Year's?

The holidays are full of food traditions, and New Year's Eve is no exception. Dishes like black-eyed peas or corned beef and cabbage have become popular New Year traditions among many families. Another delicious tradition to try this season is caviar. Caviar is a dish made from salt-cured roe (or fish eggs), which you can purchase in small tins. Although caviar was once considered a peasant dish, today it's an expensive food perfect for special occasions when you're looking to indulge. The dish became highly popular in Russia, eventually gaining a reputation as the luxury item it's considered now. 

Because caviar is seen as an extravagant item, families around the world have made it a part of their New Year's tradition. Eating caviar creates a celebratory atmosphere and represents prosperity for the coming year. To participate in the custom, you could have a spoonful of salty caviar on its own, but to truly revel, try serving the seafood dish over blini with a glass of champagne to complete the indulgence. 

The traditional way to enjoy caviar in Russia is over blini, a type of bite-sized pancake often made from buckwheat flour. To prepare your caviar and blini for the New Year's celebration, serve the mini pancakes topped with a layer of crème fraîche. Other toppings like chopped onion and lemon make flavorful additions. You can prepare a plate of blini before midnight. Get out the caviar tins and caviar spoons. When it is time to serve, spoon a small serving of caviar over the prepared pancakes. This makes for delicious finger food that is perfect for a party. If you don't have blini, you can also serve caviar over small pieces of toast or crackers to have a similar effect. 

Serve the caviar with a glass of champagne for the perfect way to start the New Year. Prosecco also tastes good with caviar and is excellent for New Year's Eve. Just remember that prosecco and champagne are different types of wine.