Here's how you can make Caviar in Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is a rustic game that involves getting your hands dirty as you tend to the farms and make sure your crops are healthy and of good quality. It makes you think of the simpler life where it was all about selling fresh stuff as a whole.
However, the more I grow my farm, the more I want to make more refined products. By being a skilled farmer, you'll get access to a lot of new tools and processes that will allow you to convert your crops and other goods into products that make great gifts and great profits.
By building the right machines and devices, you can turn nearly everything you can grow (and catch) into something else. With the right stuff, you can build a booze empire or a fermented system of production. This applies to jams, relishes, and more. Among them is the prized Caviar that can be made on your very own farm. You may not be in any of the countries known for making this expensive fish product, but you can make a mark on the niche market as long as you have the know-how, the resources, and the tools. It's a process, but it's worth it.
What is Caviar?
In the real world, caviar is cured fish eggs also known as roe. In Stardew Valley…caviar is the same thing. However, the game only allows you to make it with a certain kind of roe that is not always easy to come by. It's also one of the longest processes that take up to four in-game days in order to produce. It's classified as an Artisan Good that is worth 500 gold at the regular quality and can get a boost to 700 gold if you pick the Artisan Perk when you level up. It's also a relatively effective consumable, restoring 175 points of Energy and 79 points of Health. Lastly, it's quite a high-value gift, so be sure to save it for that special someone.
How to make Caviar
Caviar is made through fermentation. In order to do this, you'll need a Preserve Jar. Luckily, this tool can be unlocked fairly early on in your Stardew Valley career. You need to get your Farming Skill to Level 4 in order to unlock it. The fastest way to do this is to prioritize fast-growing crops so that you can water and harvest them quickly for EXP boosts. Once they're unlocked, you can select them from the Crafting Menu.
The good news is that Preserves Jars are not the most demanding farming implements. The bad news is that they require Coal, which can be seen as an uncommon material. There are multiple ways to get Coal, but the only guaranteed way is to feed wood into a Charcoal Kiln which is unlocked at Foraging Level 4. Other ways to get Coal are by breaking rocks that spawn on your farm or in the Mines. You can also find Geodes that might contain Coal when broken by the Blacksmith. Wood and Stones can be harvested anywhere.
Then, you need to get some roe. Specifically, you need to get Sturgeon Roe, which comes from Sturgeon. This is a freshwater fish that can only be caught in the lake outside the Mines or on the Wilderness Farm. It also has a chance to appear in the Traveling Cart or Krobus' Shop (on Wednesdays). They only appear naturally during the Summer and Winter months and dislike rainy weather. You have a decent chance to catch them under the right conditions so it shouldn't take long for you to gather a fair amount of Sturgeon.
The last thing you'll need is a Fish Pond, a farming building that you can buy from Robin. It costs 5,000 gold and requires Stone, Seaweed, and Green Algae, so be prepared to do lots of fishing or harvesting with Crab Pots. Once it's built, put in the Sturgeon you've caught and they'll begin to generate Sturgeon Roe. Check back periodically to see if they're ready and then place them into the Preserves Jars. Try to have as many as possible to maximize output and ensure a huge payoff once the Caviar is ready to collect.
