North Star Caviar

Ring in a superior new year

Caviar’s reputation is of luxury incarnate, served on mother-of-pearl spoons and washed down with Champagne. The world’s most prized caviar—you could eat a stock portfolio’s worth in one sitting—comes from Caspian Sea sturgeon, but its demand has endangered the species and spawned an illicit trade. Fortunately, Lake Superior offers an affordable alternative in its herring roe, most of which is exported to Scandinavia, where it’s known as Löjrom. The tiny orange eggs have a mild, briny-sweet flavor and, priced at about $5 an ounce, are a relative bargain. Source this local caviar through the Dockside Fish Market or Coastal Seafoods and serve it on blini with crème fraîche, red onion, fresh dill, and a spritz of lemon.

Dockside Fish Market, 418 W. Hwy 61, Grand Marais, 218-387-2906, docksidefishmarket.com (open seasonally)

Coastal Seafoods, 2330 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612-724-7425; 74 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul, 651-698-4888; coastalseafoods.com