Exclusive | Pizza Hut jumps on the caviar bandwagon in the weirdest possible way

It’s a real pie-in-the-sky idea.Caviar is no longer reserved for recession-proof Hamptonites wielding mother-of-pearl spoons.

Pizza Hut has jumped on the bargain Beluga bandwagon by serving up imitation fish eggs on pizza for the hoi polloi.From Thursday, April 10, through Saturday, April 12, the franchise branch at 932 Eighth Ave.will bait you with bite-sized “Caviar Pizza” pearls created to taste like — surprise — pepperoni.The tiny nuggets will be served as part of the Pizza Caviar Bump Box, which includes one Personal Pan Pizza and a choice of three plain boneless wings or fries, all of them adorned with the edible orbs.Total price: just $20, including liberal dollops of “eggs.” For reference, a tin of classic Osetra sets one back $165 from importer Caviar Russe.

“Pizza Caviar is our way of bringing a touch of indulgence, while staying true to the flavors people love from Pizza Hut,” said Melissa Friebe, chief marketing officer for Pizza Hut, which is offering the phony fish at the Midtown location from 4-8 p.m.on those days while supplies last.As you might’ve guessed, no sturgeon was harmed making the dish.

Instead, the culinary catfishing is comprised of pepperoni-flavored water and agar-agar, a gelatin created from certain species of red algae that’s also used in Jello molds.“It’s a pepperoni seasoning that we’re mixing with the water solution,” the recipe’s inventor and Global Innovation Chef Alex Yeatts told The Post.“You then heat it up and then drop it down into a vat of cold oil so it purifies, and turns into little pearl sizes.

We just do that a couple million times to get it.”Once congealed, the faux fish roe is then ladled over the 6-inch pie, like a blini for the inflation age.The pepperoni pearls were reportedly inspired by the rise of “caviar bumps,” a Gen Z trend that involves nibbling a small rail of fish embryos off their hands rather than the traditional spoon.It became so popular that it fueled a spi...