Top Most Expensive Foods – In The World

Every country has its own gastronomic treasure, and we shall discuss this treasure with regards to foods that are scarce and predominantly found in particular countries. Hence, these foods are considered luxuries and very expensive. Are you curious to know what the most expensive foods are? Or Do you want a list of the top most expensive foods to know how many you have tried? If your answer is yes, then you are in the right place. This post contains the top most expensive foods on the planet Earth. They come with a very high price tag, and people usually sought after them for their bizarre prices.

Saffron

Saffron originated from the Middle East, and it is one of the most expensive foods in the world. It is used as a colouring ingredient in foods. Thereby, if your rice has a luminous yellow, then it was probably prepared with the saffron spice. The spice is the vivid (crimson stigma) thread that is gotten from a crocus flower. Saffron has a red colour, and it is nicknamed Red Gold. You will probably wonder why such a small food spice cost a fortune; it is actually costly, more than gold.

The reason Saffron is expensive is due to its source and the process of harvest. It takes patient and manual work to harvest the spice and extract the small pistils from the crocus plant. It is usually processed and collected by hand. Each small flower of the crocus plant contains only three stigmas, meaning it will take up to two football pitches of the crocuses to make one kilogram of Saffron. 150 flowers create only one gram (0.5 ounces). Therefore, you will need about 300,000 flowers with intensive labour to create a kilogram of the great Saffron.

Caviar

Caviar is incredibly rare, and it is considered one of the world’s most awesome delicacies. It is derived from the pickled roe of the beluga and albino fish, and it is very delicate to package and tricky to handle but, most of all, very rare to come by. The most famous and relatively scarce Caviar is gotten from the beluga sturgeon found in the Black Sea and Caspian. It takes about two years for the beluga sturgeon to fully mature and reach its adult size, and it is legally permitted to trade very little of its egg, as it is infrequent and scarce.

Another source where the roe is sourced is from the albino, which is even rarer and almost going extinct from its native environment. It is the most expensive Caviar, also known as white caviar or Almas caviar. It comes from Russia, and it is literally considered a diamond in the country. Caviar is considered an ultimate luxury food, and its price is justified by the scarcity and rareness of the (beluga) fish that produces the (roe) eggs where Caviar is pickled.

Oysters

Oysters went from abundance to rarity, and it is now being considered a luxury food. The Oyster has not always been food for the rich as it was very affordable and available for everyone. Many centuries ago, Oysters were cheap and regarded as chips. It was an important food for working classes in some coastal communities and so plentiful that it was considered a snack used to consume meat pies. It was not given much value due to its plentiful availability and excessiveness.

However, the increase in population led to overfishing, which gave rise to the scarcity of Oysters. The catastrophic effects of overfishing on the Oyster stock bumped up its price and value among the rich people. Oyster is now a luxury consumed by the filthy rich who do not mind its high price.

Iberico ham

This meat is produced from Portugal and Spain. It is a type of cured ham and one of the most expensive foods in the world. The finest and most preferred Iberico ham are those gotten from free-range pigs fed with only acorns’ dietary plan through the last phase of their lives. It takes about three years to rear the pigs, but it is essential to take about six months to cure the ham legs. What makes the Iberico ham expensive and valuable is based on some stringent classification, so the black label is regarded the best.

The black label is produced from the purest Iberian pigs reared in an oak forest with a diet of only acorns. The ham is also cured for 36 months to enhance the taste and quality of the meat. The Iberico ham, if perfectly made, commands a high price and value. The most common and commercially available leg of ham is the Iberian “Machado de Jabingo,” which comes at a high whooping price.

White Truffle

White truffles are much scarcer than any other truffles as they only grow in certain trees’ roots. White Truffles are found in Northern Italy and the Piedmont region specifically. They make one of the top expensive dishes with their particularly intense aroma and flavour. The truffles are also very scarce, and they are considered one of nature’s gifts, as they can not be grown or multiplied.

People made several attempts to farm this truffle for generations but soon realized that it could not be grown or cultivated. It can only be found in the wild amongst the roots of some particular trees. The unpredictability of the white truffles and the effort people make to source and harvest them are the two main reasons for their hefty price tags.

A world-class auction is usually held every year at the white truffle fair in Alba to find the highest bidder for the white truffles. The white truffle is usually negotiated at an extraordinary and incredible whooping price.

Wagyu Beef

Wagyu beef is translated as ‘Japanese cow,’ and it is obtained from four different Japanese cows’ breeds. The meat has intense marbled fat, which renders down during the boiling and cooking process to make the meat moist, tender, and melt in the mouth when consumed. Some fans described the melting feeling as when a soft piece of fish falls apart in the mouth. Wagyu beef is a costly beef, and it is considered an ultimate piece of meat as there are strict rules that must be followed to make a breed of Japanese cow qualify for a Wagyu beef.

Wagyu beef is expensive because of the strict rearing process that the cow has to go through. There are guidelines on how to raise and feed the cows, coupled with the fact that the cow has to come from Japan. To guarantee the special fatty marbling and tenderness of the Wagyu beef, the calves must be given special feeds and proper grooming. When the cow is well fed and groomed to the Wagyu beef standards, it becomes a luxury food with an expensive price tag.

Fugu

Fugu is also known as globefish, and it is regarded as one of the most expensive and dangerous foods on earth when it is not carefully prepared. Improper consumption of this food can be fatal, and there is presently no cure for its poison. The food got the name of the fish called Fugu or Globefish. This fish goes through a surgery-like preparation to ensure it is well cooked and safe for healthy consumption. Fugu is one of the top expensive foods in the world due to the dangers associated with its consumption and the extreme care that must be taken for its preparation.

Fugu is not a dish prepared by any chef, as the preparation is strictly monitored by Japanese law. A professional chef who has gone through the compulsory three or more years of Fugu preparation training can only prepare it. If you are considering the most expensive and rare food to try on your next adventure, Fugu is a nice dish to try out.

Matsutake Mushroom

Matsutake Mushroom, also called Pine mushroom are particularly fragile and rare mushrooms that naturally grow in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is highly priced in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisines. Over the years, the mushroom has become even scarcer due to the trees and harmful insects that keep invading the area where they grow. There is a high probability that the mushroom will go in extinct as it can not be cultivated.

Matsutake Mushroom ranks one of the top expensive foods on Earth as the mushroom is one of the natural treasure from mother nature. There is no way to farm or grow this mushroom as it naturally grows in the above countries on its own. People have tried cultivating the plant, but all attempts were futile. The high price of this food is justified due to its scarcity and the fact that the plant may disappear all at once if due to many natural factors. You should try out Matsutake Mushroom before it all disappears, provided you can afford the price.