The 2006 Alba Quercus Reserve, produced by 44-year-old Spaniard Manuel Maldonado, costing about $2,100 per leg, or a cruel $160 per pound, is believed to be the most expensive ham in the world. The salt-cured ham won't be available until late 2008 and customers must buy the whole ham or nothing at all. Wanna know why these hams are so expensive, make sure to read the full AP report World's Costliest Ham Triggers Pork Envy
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Indonesia kopi luwak is a rare kind of coffee that apparently goes for $30/cup in some fancy Hong Kong hotels. The secret to its reportedly fine flavor is that the beans are collected, swallowed, and crapped back out by wild civets, small, arboreal mammals that are currently endangered.
“Kopi” the Indonesian word for coffee along with “luwak” is local name of this animal which eats the raw red coffee beans. The civet digests the soft outer part of the coffee cherry, but does not digest the inner beans and excretes them.
Apparently the internal digestion ends up adds a unique flavor to the beans, removing the bitter flavor, and then beans are then picked up by locals and sold. The most expensive coffee beans can cost up to $600 a pound, and up to $50 per cup, if you can get over the fact that you are drinking such a strange brew.
In the animals' stomachs, enzymes in the gastric juices massage the beans, smoothing off the harsh edges that make coffee bitter and produce caffeine jitters. Humans then separate the greenish-brown beans from the rest of the dung, and once a thin outer layer is removed, they are ready for roasting....
Days before the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck, Marcone was in Indonesia's Sumatran rain forest, where he collected about 10 pounds of civet droppings laced with coffee beans. He now uses it as "the gold standard" to rate other kopi luwaks in his lab at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Like a forensic scientist reading a bullet's markings, Marcone stares at kopi luwak under an electron microscope, searching for striations that tell him that a civet excreted it. His studies found that kopi luwak drinkers need to be careful to avoid being duped.
"About 42% of all the kopi luwaks that are presently on sale are either adulterated or complete fakes, unfortunately," he said.
Real kopi luwak has a top note of rich, dark chocolate, with secondary notes that are musty and earthy, the scientist said. An Indonesian coffee lover described the scent as the smell of moist earth after a rainfall, with hints of vanilla, that teases the palate for hours after the cup is empty.
Caviars are no doubt costly, but ALMAS, the Russian for diamond, costs $23,308.
This caviar is extracted from the Beluga fish. The reason for the caviar being costly is the rarity of Beluga. This fish, which is also the largest sturgeon and the only predator in the family, is highly prized because granules or coarse texture and its tender skin. The beluga caviars are costly because of large, compact grains, fine color, and flavor.
It takes many efforts to make the ALMAS caviar. The caviar is extracted from a manual processing. The fish is placed on a coarse mesh place across wooden tub. The roe bags or sacs containing beluga’s eggs are removed. The roes are passed thought the mesh, to grade the eggs and to separate the eggs from the binding tissue. Care is taken while rubbing the roes across the mesh as there are chances of the fish to die during the process leading to a bitter and low-grade caviar.he there are chances of the fish to die hand for optimum control. The process also separates the eggs from binding tissue
If you believe on the saying “old is gold”, then this 100 years old fish is going to fetch 24k gold tin, in which it is packed. Hey, you can get back half the price you paid for the caviar by selling the gold tin. Anyways, this white caviar with an exotic flavor and a buttery texture is captured from Caspian Sea.
The language of caviar
America's premium ice cream retailer Bruster's sold this world's most expensive ice cream for the charity.
Bruster's waffle cone masterpiece was created by renowned diamond manufacturer, Lazare Kaplan International Inc., and consists of nearly 20 troy ounces of 18k white and yellow gold, 548 round Lazare Diamonds, 87 Lazare square emerald cut diamonds, and one breathtaking 5.63 carat Fancy Intense Yellow radiant cut diamond. The 152.16 carat total weight one-of-a-kind piece has a retail value of $1 million and is for sale!
Link via SN
The Golden Opulence Sundae, the "World's most expensive sundae" for "only" 1000$ was created to celebrate Serendipity's (New York) 50th Anniversay last year.
Made with "5 scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23K edible gold leaf, the sundae is drizzled with the world's most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana, and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate, which is from cocoa beans harvested by the Caribbean Sea on Venezuela's coast. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. It is topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert caviar, made of salt-free American Golden caviar, known for its sparkling golden color. It's sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and Armagnac. The sundae is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold spoon to partake in the indulgenceserved with a petite mother of pearl spoon and topped with a gilded sugar flower by Ron Ben-Israel."
