In the “Beryozka” chain of stores, black caviar cost $45 for a 113-gram jar. The official state price for this jar was 8 rubles for a Soviet citizen. But purchasing it at that price was impossible. Instead, it could be acquired through waiters at the "Metropol" restaurant for 25 rubles and resold to foreigners for $20. Three boxers from the Institute of Physical Education came up with an idea. They set up a mobile laboratory in their dormitory: they cooked wheat porridge in a pot, added black gouache paint, and finally treated the mixture with sunflower oil. The porridge was poured into glass jars, and through the glass, it was indistinguishable from real caviar. Each jar cost them $1 to make, and they sold it for $15. Every day, the street vendors transported trunks full of these jars to the city center. Foreigners visited the late USSR like they were traveling to Africa, seeking real adventures. It didn’t matter if, in Paris, someone opened a jar of black caviar only to find porridge – it became part of the authentic local flavor.