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Expensive & Exclusive Food

James_H said:
If you have a pet cat or dog, you can try feeding it coffee beans and report back. I can't guarantee results, however.
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I'm currently in a country which produces the civets which produce the essential pre-requisite for civet coffee. Apparently it's not so much whatever alchemy happens within the animal's gut that makes the difference as the fact that it knows much better than humans do which berries are most optimal. You essentially outsource the grading work to the civet, and then harvest the finest beans at your - somewhat stinky, I imagine - leisure. One of these days I'll go and try a cup, and let you know.
 
I am persuaded that civet-shit coffee has nothing to do with the animal having any choice at all. Most are caged and suffer from their enforced diet. :(
 
The coffee I bought was shat out by a coati, not a civet. That is probably why it was cheaper.
 
I see baby eels are up to 7000 dollars per pound.
 
One bunch of quite sweet and juicy grapes .... $11,000 US ...
Bunch of rare grapes sells for $11,000 in Japan

A bunch of 24 red grapes offered up for auction in Japan fetched a high bid of $11,000, making them the most expensive bunch of grapes on record.

The auctioneer in Kanazawa said businessman Takashi Hosokawa, who owns a chain of hot spring hotels in Ishikawa Prefecture, was the top bidder for the bunch of Ruby Roman grapes, which hit the market in 2008 and are prized for their high sugar content, low acidity and juiciness.

Hosokawa told reporters he offered the amount -- which translates to 1.2 million yen -- to celebrate the 12 years since the breed first came to market and to mark the first auction of Reiwa, the new Imperial era that began in May with the coronation of Emperor Naruhito.

Only about 26,000 Ruby Roman grapes are expected to be sold this year. Only a select number have been made available to keep demand and exclusivity high.
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SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/07/10/Bunch-of-rare-grapes-sells-for-11000-in-Japan/4231562779851/
 
Expensive foods don't interest me. OTOH, how cheaply can people eat while retaining good health? Now there's a worthy question.
Cheap eating is endlessly fascinating to me.
 
escargot said:
Expensive foods don't interest me. OTOH, how cheaply can people eat while retaining good health? Now there's a worthy question.
Cheap eating is endlessly fascinating to me.
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Well, grow your own, wide variety of fruit/veg, maybe chickens for animal protein, you could probably eat very cheaply indeed...
If you lack a large market garden or farm, try Jack Monroe's recipes - designed for people on a very tight budget but want more than mechanically recovered chicken nuggets.
 
Oh I'm FANTASTIC at eating frugally! And no chicken nuggets for me.

There was a charity challenge a while ago where you're supposed to eat and drink the same as a refugee. Gave it some thought.

Cheap, you'd certainly lose weight, hmmmm, your teeth might benefit...

What WAS I thinking? People really have to live on that.
 
Here's a new contender in the crab cake sub-category ...
Restaurant attempts Guinness record with $310 crab cakes

A South Carolina restaurant is taking aim at a Guinness World Record by offering a $310 crab cake that comes encrusted with platinum.

Chef Lazarius Ken Leysath Walker of The Twist in Columbia unveiled the seafood creation with an aim toward capturing the Guinness World Record for most expensive crab cake.

The dish features black truffles and is encrusted with edible platinum.

"The thing about it was trial and error," Walker told WOLO-TV. "I've wasted so much platinum trying to get it right."

The crab cake was a secret menu item for about a year prior to its unveiling and was only served to two people. ...
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SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/0...ess-record-with-310-crab-cakes/5211564075676/
 
Tribble said:
There's a world record for most expensive crab cake?
Do they have to justify the price or can someone serve any old crab cake and say "$320. I can haz record?"
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Good question ... It's tricky to claim something is objectively the "most expensive" / "most valuable" when "value" can vary with the situation rather than the object itself.

It reminds me of the old movie / TV trope where one among a group of castaway / marooned people has a small bit of food on his / her person (e.g., a half-eaten candy bar in a pocket) and auctions it off to whomever offers the most in return.

I wonder if there had been (e.g.) a similarly "most valuable" life preserver or lifeboat seat transaction on deck as the passengers began to understand the possible ramifications of the Titanic's situation.

Anyway ...

Off hand, I don't know whether the Guinness folks have rules covering this sort of situation.
 
I was in a restaurant in New York last year that offered a $1000 hamburger. I don't recall the exact ingredients, but aside from the beef, it also had foie gras and edible gold leaf. I don't know why on Earth anyone would order this aside from showing off, but it was there if you wanted to throw your money away.
 
Lord Lucan said:
I was in a restaurant in New York last year that offered a $1000 hamburger. I don't recall the exact ingredients, but aside from the beef, it also had foie gras and edible gold leaf. I don't know why on Earth anyone would order this aside from showing off, but it was there if you wanted to throw your money away.
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A pointless thing. A burger is to be eaten, digested and crapped out. That poo will have cost $1000.
 
This specimen may be destined to be a contender in the most expensive crab cake category ...

Snow crab auctioned for record $46,000 in Japan
A snow crab caught in Japan was auctioned for a record $46,000 ...

The Tottori Prefecture Fisheries Association said the 2.7 pound itsukiboshi crab, which boasts a 5.7-inch shell, was caught at the start of the fishing season Tuesday and was sold at the first auction of the season at Tottori port.

The crab fetched a high bid of $46,000 from crab seller Kanemasa Hamashita Shoten. The company previously set a world record last year when it paid $18,300 for a crab auctioned in the same place.

"We came to this year's first auction hoping that we would bid the world's highest price again," a representative for the company told Kyodo News. "I believe it is a good crab filled with meat."

The representative said the crab is destined for a restaurant in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo.
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SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/1...for-record-46000-in-Japan/6171573159961/?sl=1
 
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Swifty said:
Morons. Very rare food or not, that much money being spent is just a pissing contest. I'd only understand and relate to that much money being spent on edible permafrost recovered Russian woolly mammoth steaks.
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I have it on good authority that our ancestors thought that mammoth trunks were the best cut of meat, and the rest was a bit bland. I suppose you could turn the off cuts into mammoth pemmican?
 
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