Burger King launched caviar chicken nuggets – but is the fancy fast food here to stay?
Paris, France - When Burger King announced it was selling caviar with nuggets at its French restaurants on April 1, many people assumed it was an April Fool's joke!
But as news spread on social media, buyers rushed to try one of the world's most expensive delicacies paired with a humble and highly processed piece of deep-fried chicken while limited stocks lasted.
For 19 euros ($22), they got seven nuggets, mayonnaise, and a 10-gram (0.35-ounce) pouch of Chinese-origin caviar from the Astana brand, which explained it had worked with the fast-food giant to "make the caviar of chefs available to as many people as possible."
It was a marketing coup – the story quickly went viral after being picked up by news outlets – but it also revealed how the image of caviar as an out-of-reach luxury product is rapidly changing.
As with most new food trends, interest in the exclusive fish eggs is being driven by online influencers and celebrities.
Rihanna posted a video to her 150 million followers on Instagram in December last year showing her eating nuggets topped with caviar.
"I don't like how much I like this," she began.
Celebrity chef David Chang is also a champion, with a past Instagram video showing him dunking a deep-fried chicken leg into a one-kilogram tin of caviar – "one of my favorite most obscene things to do" – which racked up more than three million views.
He credits New York chef Wylie Dufresne with first adding it to the menu at his influential WD~50 restaurant in the 2010s.
Last year, the US Open tennis tournament caused a stir by selling a $100 box of six nuggets with caviar created by the luxury Manhattan fried chicken restaurant Coqodaq.
Momentum for these tiny fancy feasts have only picked up momentum since the stunts.
Caviar is becoming more widely accessible, experts say
Why and how is caviar becoming more accessible, and is it here to stay? The experts have weighed in.
Mikael Petrossian, head of the French brand Petrossian, said there is a "demystification" of caviar underway.
"Caviar doesn't necessarily have to come in a large tin with silver serving pieces... You can enjoy the product in a much more relaxed way," he said. "I personally like eating caviar with [potato chips]."
The founder of French caviar producer Neuvic, Laurent Deverlanges, says his company also aims to make it "less formal."
He posted a review of the "King Nugget Caviar" menu online, concluding that "it works, even if you can't really taste the caviar much."
But Olivier Cabarrot, the head of the France-based Prunier brand, whose caviar restaurant is one of the most famous in the world, pushes back on the idea of it becoming a regular product.
"In terms of gastronomy, there is nothing as expensive. It's hard to talk about it becoming 'democratized,'" he said. "But we can speak of greater accessibility, achieved through the sale of smaller quantities rather than lower prices."
Many distributors – including Petrossian and Prunier – offer tins of 10, 20, or 30 grams (about one ounce), to help attract a younger clientele.
Cover photo: Burger King