If you’re looking to expand your
horizons into the world of excess culinary expense, then you could do worse
than starting with a few items on the list below. We’ve collected some of the
most outlandish, outrageous and, above all, the most expensive foods in the
world.
Matsutake
Mushrooms – $1000/pound
The matsutake, or mattake, mushroom
is expensive because of its rarity. While its historical prevalence meant it
was nearly synonymous with autumn in Japan,
the introduction of an insect that kills the trees under which the mushroom
grows has caused a dramatic decrease in the number of matsutake mushrooms. A
method for farming the matsutake has yet to be developed, which means the lack
of trees from which to harvest these mushrooms naturally is a serious problem
for the species.
The World’s Most Expensive Bagel – $1000

This bagel, created by Executive
Chef Frank Tujague for
New York’s
Westin Hotel, is topped with white truffle cream cheese and goji berry infused
Riesling jelly with golden leaves. The bagel’s price is justified when you
consider that white truffles happen to be the second most expensive food by
weight, eclipsed only by caviar. The underground fungus grows only under
specific oak trees in
Alba, Italy.
Their pheromone-like odor is considered to be an aphrodisiac and is the reason
dogs and female pigs are used to hunt the precious truffle.
This
absurdly expensive breakfast item consists of a mixture of eggs, lobster and 10
ounces of sevruga caviar (which costs the restaurant $65 per ounce). On the
menu next to the expensive omelet there is a challenge that reads, “Norma dares
you to expense this.”
While
Wagyu cattle are raised both in and outside Japan,
the Kobe varietal which
is raised specifically in the Hyogo prefecture is the most elite. Employing the
most traditional production methods,
Kobe beef comes from
cows that are allegedly fed only beer and massaged by hand to ensure a
tenderness and marbling beyond compare. These dishes can be out of range for the
average restaurateur, carrying an unhealthy load of fat and a price tag to
match. For your next after-work social, you might try taking your associates to
New York City’s Craftsteak, where a full Wagyu rib eye was served up to a
private party for $2800.
To
celebrate the DVD release of Slumdog Millionaire, Bombay
Brassiere packed this curry platter full of the most expensive ingredients they
could find. Devon crab
and white truffle and a half tomato filled with Beluga caviar and dressed with
gold leaf are just the start of this lavish dish. A Scottish lobster, also
coated with gold, four abalone and four shelled and hollowed quails’ eggs
filled with even more caviar round out the dish.
The
12 inch pizza pie is densely packed with an assortment of some of the world’s
most expensive food ingredients, such as lobster marinated in cognac, caviar
soaked in champagne, sunblush tomato sauce, Scottish smoked salmon, venison
medallions, prosciutto, and vintage balsamic vinegar. In addition to all these
fine ingredients, it’s topped with a significant amount of edible 24-carat gold
flakes.
In a country where
watermelons are rare game, they can be a costly commodity. That’s how a
17-pound Japanese watermelon became the most expensive watermelon in the world.
Densuke watermelons, a type of black watermelon grown only on the northern
Japanese island of Hokkaido,
are usually given as gifts due to their extraordinary rarity. There were only
sixty-five of the fruits among the first harvest this season. They are harder
and crisper than the watermelons we Americans are used to and, according to
Tohma Agricultural Cooperative’s spokesman, they “have a different level of
sweetness.”
Another type of
expensive melon, the world’s most expensive cantaloupes are a pair of Yubari
melons and were the first auction of the 2008 season. They had previously been
judged the best pair and were purchased by the owner of a nearby seafood
lunchbox and souvenir business. It had some competition—100 melons grown by
farmers from Yubari were also judged.
Almas caviar comes from Iran making it
extremely rare and extremely expensive. The only known outlet is the Caviar
House & Prunier in London England’s Picadilly that sells a kilo of the
expensive Almas
caviar in a 24-karat gold tin for £16,000, or about $25,000. Coincidentally,
it is also where you can find the most expensive meal in Britain. The
Caviar House also sells a £800 tin for those on a smaller budget.
Expensive truffles are
notoriously pricey because they are difficult to cultivate. This makes them a
true delicacy which some have called the king of all fungi. The Associate Press
reported that a real estate investor and his wife from Hong
Kong have
paid €125,000 ($160,406 USD) for a gigantic Italian White Alba truffle which
is reportedly the world’s most expensive ever. The most expensive truffle
weighs in 1.51 kilograms (3.3 lbs).