When most people think of caviar, a luxury item often linked to special occasions such as New Year’s Eve, they likely picture a delicacy that’s as Russian as a chilled bottle of Stolichnaya vodka.

But that image is rapidly changing, and, before long, caviar might begin to be viewed by many gourmands as American as apple pie.

Stocks of the three most famous types of sturgeon (beluga, osetra and sevruga) from the Caspian Sea are plummeting, thanks to unrestrained over-harvesting. So more people are turning to farm-raised caviars produced from the roe (fish eggs) of North American relatives of the sturgeon.

High-quality caviar from native species such as the white sturgeon, hackleback sturgeon, bowfin, whitefish and paddlefish is making serious inroads into the market for caviar imported from Russia and Iran. Consumers are discovering that it’s markedly less expensive than, and on par with, the best imported caviar, and it’s from an environmentally sound and sustainable resource — farm-raised fish — rather than an increasingly endangered species that has been harvested almost to the point of extinction.

(Note: The only “true” caviar is the roe from the beluga, osetra and sevruga sturgeons caught in the Caspian Sea. Any other type of roe, even that from close relatives of those sturgeons, must have the name of the species on the label before the word “caviar,” such as “whitefish caviar.”)

The Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Iowa, started selling a limited amount of American caviar this week in its meat and seafood department. Tom King, the department manager, spent months researching American caviar.

“It draws attention to an unrecognized food resource which has regional connections (hackleback sturgeon is farm-raised in Missouri) and is, in food circles, extremely politically correct,” he says.

“On the world market, American caviar is in the same place where California wines were 20 years ago — poised for dominance.”

That’s something to keep in mind for those who are looking to celebrate New Year’s Eve Friday in high style.

Actually, American caviar isn’t entirely new to Lawrence.

Ken Baker, chef and owner of Pachamama’s, 2161 Quail Creek Drive, has been incorporating the product into his cooking at the fine-dining restaurant for several years.

“The quality is awesome. You’re getting maybe not quite as big a grain as the beluga caviar, but the quality is there as far as the texture, salt content, nuttiness and color. Most of the American caviar is similar to an osetra or sevruga caviar,” Baker says.

“Right now, we’ve been using an American sturgeon that’s farm raised. We’re getting paddlefish roe, which is a fresh-water, distant cousin of the sturgeon. Whitefish roe is great, too. The paddlefish is mostly coming out of Kentucky; the whitefish is coming from the Pacific Northwest.”

Baker usually uses American caviar as a garnish, or as an ingredient in a butter sauce for fish. Sometimes it’s served on top of blini — small, leavened buckwheat pancakes — or a potato.

American caviar is competing with Russian and Iranian caviar. Several varieties of caviar are available in local stores.

The restaurant has also used tobikko (roe from a flying fish) in its vodka pasta sauce. Tobikko is often infused with flavor from ingredients like wasabi, a Japanese version of horseradish.

“People who like caviar definitely dig what we’re serving,” Baker says, paraphrasing one satisfied customer. “The response has been fantastic.”

Comparable to world’s best

Lawrence caterer Robert Krause is a big fan of caviar.

“I like the flavor. I like salty food, and I like the texture of it; it’s crunchy, kind of exotic. And those are the kinds of foods I like to deal with,” says Krause, who, with his wife, Molly, operates Robert Krause Catering & Dining.

“It adds beauty (to an occasion). To make a bold statement, serve caviar or something with caviar on it. Except some people don’t want it. They just like the idea of it.”

Unfortunately, many American consumers haven’t had any experience with fresh, high-quality caviar.

“Most people associate caviar with that red-and-black stuff (sold in small jars) at the grocery store. It’s from lumpfish. I don’t even know what lumpfish is. It could sit there for years,” he says.

The overall demand for high-end caviar in Lawrence remains low, according to Baker. His cost for caviar is usually $40 to $60 per ounce.

A good way to enjoy caviar, he says, is to simply set some out with toast points, to be eaten plain. Or serve it as part of a first course of dishes such as smoked salmon or oysters.

King says American caviar is sometimes as much as 70 percent less expensive than the imported varieties. And that’s going to help the market for it grow.

“If you make something more accessible and people get to try it, that’s where perceptions change. I think they will find a product that’s comparable in quality (to Russian caviar), and it’s American,” he says.

“They always used to say we couldn’t make good wine in America. We showed that we could. They said that we couldn’t make good cheese in America. We proved that we could. So here we go again.”