The Most Expensive Things To Put In Your Mouth

by SUSANNAH LONG · June 28, 2010

    Don't be crass, gentle readers. Edible things. The Daily Mail drew our attention to the most expensive bread and basics in the world, and with the help of the interblag, we've unearthed the priciest foodstuffs on earth, some of which are very peculiar.-

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    Bread

    Baker Tom Herbert with his costly creation. [Photo via the Telegraph]

    The Shepherd's Loaf costs 31£, or about $21.

    Rejoice, all ye with gluten allergies! Cotswolds baker Tom Herbert makes his daily bread using organic spelt flour, along with a secret sourdough recipe, local spring water, and Cornish sea salt. Each loaf takes two days to finish. Despite his bread's famous fans (among them Liz Hurley, Damien Hirst, and Keith Allen), Herbert does admit that his product is "horrifically overpriced."

    Olive Oil

    Lambda Olive Oil sells for about $200.00 per bottle, and comes in a special gift box. Score.

    This olive oil is hand-extracted and cold-pressed from olives in the Kritsa region of Crete. It "boasts extremely low acidity, intense fruity notes, and an unforgettable aftertaste," according to LuxuryLaunches. You can pick up your own bottle at Harrods of London.

    Salt

    The Læsø saltworks.

    Salt from the Læsø Saltsyderi saltworks costs $29.00 per kilogram wholesale.

    Why so valuable? The production facilities on the arid Danish island of Læsø extracts salt from sodium-rich groundwater using medieval manufacturing techniques.

    Honey

    Sidr beehives

    Sidr honey sells for $200.00 per kilogram.

    This Yemeni honey is harvested twice a year, from bees who eat only the pollen of the holy Sidr tree. Unsurprisingly, Sidr honey is traditionally thought to have powerful medicinal properties . . . although apparently not for the bees, who typically die after making only three pollen-gathering trips, as compared to the 37,000 trips typically made by regular bees.

    Tea

    Tie Guan Yin tea.

    Tie Guan Yin tea costs a hefty £1,700 per kilo.

    This Chinese tea, named after an ancient deity, can be steeped seven times and still taste fresh and perfect. So it's practically cost-effective. Looking to sample something on the cheaper side? Some shops sell diluted forms of the stuff much more cheaply.

    Coffee

    Mmm. And also blech.

    Coffee Luwak's wholesale cost is £30 or about $45 per 200-gram bag . . . meaning that a regular 1-lb bag would cost more than 100 dollars. Buying just a cup at the few restaurants that carry the coffee can cost up to $65.

    This legendary coffee is manufactured from kopi luwak beans, which are unearthed from the dung of the Indonesian palm civet.

    Milk

    At about $22.00 per pint, "Adult Milk" from Tokyo dairy Nakazawa foods provides that extra special something to put in your morning coffee Luwak.

    Adult Milk is taken from the dairy's cows once a week, at dawn, "when the milk supposedly contains a high dosage of anxiety-reducing melatonin." It's marketed as a stress reliever.

    Cheese

    Oh hello, special donkeys.

    You'll be out $1,250.00 per pound when you buy smoked Pule cheese.

    This Serbian delicacy is manufactured from donkey milk - to be specific, the milk from 100 "celebrated" donkeys kept in the Zasavica Special Nature Preserve near Belgrade.

    Potatoes

    Yeah, we couldn't find a photograph. But we're pretty sure La Bonnotte potatoes look like . . . potatoes.

    A kilogram of La Bonnotte potatoes costs around $500.00.

    These spuds, only 100 tons of which are produced annually, are farmed only on the Veariety grows solely on the island of Noirmoutier, off the western coast of France. The potatoes are fertilized with seal algae and picked by hand during a span of just ten days in May.

    Watermelon

    A 17-pound specimen of the Densuke watermelon sold at auction for £4,225, or about $6,360.00.

    You've probably heard of the boutique watermelons that our friends over in The Land of the Rising Sun produce. The Densuke is a crisp, hard, black melon produced in extremely small numbers; recently, the annual harvest yielded only 65 of the fruits.

    Chocolate

    Knipschildt's famous dark chocolate truffle. [photo courtesy of Forbes]

    The Chocopologie line of chocolates by Knipschildt costs $2,600.00 per pound. But maker Fritz Knipschildt swears they're worth it.

    The most expensive chocolate is right in our own backyard! Knipschildt Chocolatier is a Connecticut-based outfit that, at only 11 years old, is a newcomer to the chocolate scene. But the Denmark-trained chef who runs the company has already made his name with a plethora of luxury chocolates, among them a $250.00 70% Valrhona cacao truffle with a French black truffle rolled in the center.