What are some of the most expensive foods in the world?

We often find ourselves tucked under a blanket, eating noodles while it is raining outside, or helping ourselves to some hearty snacks while watching a movie or series. Indeed, we all love gorging on our favourite food from time to time; we also eat food depending on the mood. But sometimes, don’t you feel curious to try out something new that you have never tried before.

What if this “new food item” is ridiculously expensive? Would you still try it?

But then again, your understanding of expensive food depends on your familiarity and dietary preferences. For instance, Caviar and foie gras are two luxurious food items, whereas others may consider red salmon and truffles costly.

Written below are some of the most expensive food in the world

White truffles

If you ever had truffle, you would know the hefty price tag on the menu. Truffles are rare, edible subterranean fungi or tubers that are kind of mushrooms but different from it. Mushrooms grow outside the ground, while truffles grow underground, as they prefer dark surroundings.

So, why are they so costly?

Firstly, truffles aren’t something people grow randomly on farms or harvest; they usually require a particular climate. They typically grow in places with moisture on warm days and cool nights; moreover, they can only grow on and below certain types of trees, including oak, pine, and hazel trees.

After they grow, the next challenging task is to find them, which includes a labour-intensive job of using animals with a great sense of smell to help find truffles.

White truffles, mainly, are rare, and they come from Italy and Croatia and require specific conditions to grow. In addition, there are elaborate methods to collect and preserve them; it is known for its aroma and taste and costs around $2100 in Europe.

White pearl albino caviar

The fish called albino beluga produces very rare Caviar, called white pearl albino caviar. The fish species initially used to live in the Caspian sea, but they are now almost extinct in their native habitat.

You can buy the albino rare fish eggs for $300,000 per kilogram, making it one of the most expensive food in the world.

Saffron

Saffron is called the golden spice for a reason; it is an expensive spice due to many underlying factors.
The flower Crocus Sativus blooms only for two to four weeks during the months of July, August, September, while during October and November, the harvesting is done; within this short period, the red stigmas are plucked by the hand carefully and then dried, which ultimately becomes the spice.

Only a handful of countries can produce Saffron due to the climatic conditions that serve as a prerequisite.

Humidity, along with cold temperatures and a dry climate with rich and fertile land, is ideal for Saffron’s continuous growth within the duration that has been mentioned.
The harvesting process is elaborate, requiring groups/groups of labour to carry out the procedure relentlessly within the stipulated time.

It has been estimated that at least four thousand and five hundred Crocus Sativus flowers are required to make an ounce of Saffron, while seventy-six thousands of the flowers make a pound of Saffron. No wonder it costs more than $500 per ounce. The regions such as Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir in India, Southern Italy, Greece and Iran are some of the leading manufacturers of Saffron.

Moose cheese

Moose cheese is one of the most expensive rarest cheeses globally that is produced only on the Moose house farm in Sweden. As opposed to how cheese is made with cow or goat milk, moose cheese is made with moose’s milk and sold across Scandinavia and Russia.

The farm produces only 5 litres of milk by each moose every day from May to September, and they only sell 300 kilograms of cheese in a year for $1074 per kilogram.

Kopi Luwak coffee

Possibly one of the most bizarre food items that you can come across is the Kopi Luwak or Civet coffee. The production process is very unusual, wherein the coffee is produced from the coffee beans that have been eaten by a palm civet or a civet cat. Then, the digested coffee cherries that have been eaten or defecated by the civets are collected, cleaned and processed. After which, they are sold between $250 and $1200 per kilogram.