100 Facts about the World's most Luxurious and Expensive Food and Drink

1. Native Americans held smoked salmon in high respect, and believed that that if someone were to mishandle the fish, the great spirits of the sea would drive the salmon away from the waters. 
2. Salmon is smoked when it is under three years of age, which preserves the full freshness and flavor of the fish. 
3. Foie Gras simply means Fatty Liver in French.
4. The origins of Foie Gras date back to Ancient Egypt, when the egyptians would notice that that during winter, geese's livers would expand due to the amount they were eating.
5. Foie Gras employs a controversial method of force feeding geese or duck grains to enlarge their livers.
6. Caviar is the roe of a female sturgeon, which is a migratory fish that averages a weight of 60lb, but can grow to up to over 3000lbs.
7. The sturgeon is mainly found in the Caspian Sea, which laps the shore of 2 of the biggest producers of caviar, Russia and Iran.
8. The first known record of caviar was in the 4th Century B.C, and was recorded by the scholar Aristotle. 
9. Beluga Caviar can cost up to $5000.
10. The sturgeon fish used to produce Almas Caviar are rare although they have existed for over 120 million years, they are the oldest survivors of the dinosaur era. 
11. The Almas Caviar is prepared in Iran and is sold only in London at one outlet called, The Caviar House and Punier. 
12. The waiting list to buy Almas caviar is 4 years and it is sold in a 24 karat, gold tin box.
13. Truffles are found within the living roots of chestnut, oak, hazel, and beech trees.
14. The word truffle comes from the Latin word “tuber”, which means outgrowth.
15. A myth surrounded this gourmet entrée when people believed they came from the ground after lightening struck the Earth
16. The Greeks and Romans used them for therapeutic purposes, feeling that they gave eternal health to the body and soul.
17. In contrast, throughout the middle Ages, truffles virtually disappeared from sight. This is because at one time, the church felt that because of their exotic aroma, truffles were the creation of the devil. 
18. They are found mostly in spring, rarely coming out in cold temperatures.
19. You can tell if any truffles are near by the movement of certain flies in the air.
20. Truffles contain alpha-androstenol, the equivalent of boar’s pheromones, which appears to attract the animal to the mushroom, indicating truffle-hunters as to the location (today the weight of the boar limits its use in modern trufficulture, so highly-trained dogs are used).
21. The White Truffle sells for between $1,360-$4,200 per pound
22. The most expensive White Truffle ever sold was for $330,000
23. Old local traditions still surround the white truffle, one of which is to give a prized truffle to a famous person. This tradition was started by Giacomo Morra back in the 1950's. Recipients have been former U.S. presidents, movie stars and political figures and others.
24. The best way to eat white truffle is within three days of it being dug up.
25. While the word “Wagyu” is used to describe beef produced from several varieties of Japanese Wagyu cattle, Kobe beef refers specifically to cuts of meat taken from the Tajima breed of cow, a squat, barrel-chested bovine with a glossy black coat.
26. To obtain Kobe certification, the cows must be born, raised and slaughtered in Hyogo Prefecture, and the meat is never exported.
27. Only around 3,000 heads qualify as Kobe grade annually, with each animal yielding about 400 kilos of beef.
28. Rumor has it that the Tajima cows are totally pampered - being given daily massages, soothed to sleep with Mozart sonatas and being fed a steady diet of beer have elevated Kobe beef to almost mythical status.
29. The beef can cost up to $300 per pound. 
30. The Tajima breed of cow is hereditarily inclined to produce a higher percentage of oleaginous and unsaturated fat.
31. Another Japanese delicacy is the Fugu fish (Japanese for Pufferfish). Pufferfish are deadly and if the fish is prepared incorrectly it can lead to death.
32. One pinhead of the pufferfish poison is sufficient to kill a full grown adult male human.
33. You must undergo intense training and possess a licence to buy and cook Fugu fish.
34. It takes over 30 steps to prepare fugu fish, these preparations reduce the amount of tetrodotoxin in the fish, making it eatable.
35. The fugu apprentice takes 2 or 3 years before being allowed to take an official test, and only 30% of applicants pass the long and complicated procedure.
36. Fugu can cost up to $200 in a licensed restaurant.
37. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, reaching prices beyond $2,000 per pound.
38. Saffron is the three stigmas and style of the crocus flower. Each stigma and style must be picked by hand and it takes thousands to make a single ounce of the spice.
39. One thread is enough to season three dozen plates of rice.
40. Bird's nests are considered a delicacy in China. The nests in question here are produced by a variety of Swifts, specifically Cave Swifts who produce the nest by spitting a chemical compound that hardens in the air. 
41. Birds Nests have been served in China for over 400 years.
42. In Hong Kong a bowl of Birds Nest soup costs up to $30.
43. Per pound the cost ranges from $910 to $4,535.
44. The saliva used to make the Birds Nest is believed to have nutritional, medicinal and aphrodisiac properties.
45. The nervous system of a lobster is decentralized and has been compared to that of a grasshopper. This means they probably feel little or no pain. They also have no vocal chords, so the sound people may hear is actually steam escaping from the shell as the lobster cooks.
46. Lobster blood is clear and turns an opaque white when cooked. It has no flavor and is perfectly fine to eat.
47. The green stuff you may find in a lobster is called "Tomalley", and is the equivalent of a liver and pancreas for the lobster. Many people consider tomalley to be a delicacy, while others avoid it altogether.
48. Steaming is the most popular method of cooking lobster, although there is controversy surrounding it, due to the idea of placing the lobsters into the boiling lobster alive.
49. The RSPCA recommends freezing a lobster to numb it's pain for 2-3hrs, whilst many chefs argue that freezing it for that long would mean destroying the texture of the meat. Instead they suggest freezing it only for 15-30 minutes.
50. Lobsters form a large family of marine crustaceans that nets a $1.8 billion for the seafood industry every year. 
51. Lobster is now a commonly requested food for prisoners receiving a last meal before execution.
    
52. A popular story (which may be history or myth) says that Lobster Thermidor was invented in 1894 at the restaurant Maire in Boulevard Saint-Denis in Paris, in honour of the first night of the play “Thermidor”, by Victorien Sardou.
53. Matsutake (松茸) is the common name for a group of mushrooms in Japan. They have been an important part of Japanese cuisine for the last 1,000 years. The tradition of mushroom giving persists today in Japan’s corporate world, and a gift of matsutake is considered special and is cherished by those who receive it.
54. The Japanese Matsutake at the beginning of the season, which is the highest grade, can go for up to $2000 per kilogram.
55. The Matsutake mushroom costs between $90 to $905 per pound.
56. The matsutake mushroom has been highly prized in Japan for centuries and is found on particular pine trees in Japan, Korea and China and a few other places in the world. They form a symbiotic relationship with the tree’s roots and never grow again in the same spot more than one time.
57. The annual harvest of Matsutake in Japan is around 1000 tons, and it is partially made up by imports from China, Korea, and Canada.
58. Oysters have long been considered a delicacy and have been cultivated for at least two thousand years.
59. Oysters have always been considered an aphrodisiac.
60. The American Indans of the coastal regions enjoyed oysters as a staple part of their diet, and the earliest European explorers marveled at oysters that were up to a foot in length.
61. Virginia and Maryland have waged "oyster wars" over offshore beds since 1632.
62. All types of oysters (and, indeed, many other shelled molluscs) can secrete pearls, but those from edible oysters have no market value
63. The most prized chocolate in the world is by Chocopologie by Knipschildt. 
64. The Knipschildt chocolate costs $2,600 per pound.
65. It is a handmade chocolate truffle that contains 70% Valrhona cacao and black truffle. 
66. The exclusive chocolate was created by Fritz Knipchildt, a Chocolatier from Denmark who moved to the US and founded his famous delicacy in 1996.
67. The price for edible gold is $33,000 – $110,000 per kilo
68. Gold was first used in cooking in the Middle Ages.
69. People eat gold leaf because it has no ill effect on the human body, and simply because they can say they have eaten gold.
70. The Dansuke Watermelon is a black watermelon, the most expensive watermelon in the world that is harder and more crisp than the American watermelon. One watermelon can cost as much as $6,100.
71. They grow only on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and are usually given as rare gifts.
72. Another Japanese fruit, the Yubari melon can cost anywhere between $60 to $150 in the US. Generally, the best of the variety cost $200.
73. In 2008, 2 Yubari melons were auctioned and sold for more than $20000.
74. Chef Frank Tujague from New York’s Westin Hotel has created the world's most expensive bagel, which is served with white truffle cream and cheese, goji berry, golden leaves, and sauce it with Riesling Jelly, and costs $1000.
75. The most expensive pizza in the world was created by Domenico Crolla’s and costs $4200, and is decorated with gold chips.
76. The Samundari Khazana Curry, costing $3200 is the most expensive curry, and is recorded as world’s most expensive curry and was served for the first time to celebrate the premier launched of Slumdog millionaire DVD.
77. The world's most expensive hot dog has been dubbed an “haute dog” combining haute cuisine with a common American staple.  It is sold by Serendipity 3 in New York City on a foot-long pretzel bun. The sausage is made of beef cooked in white truffle oil and topped with foie gras, dijon mustard, more truffle, caramelized Vidalia onions, and heirloom tomato ketchup.  It will currently run you $69.
78. The most expensive cocktail is served in the most expensive hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab hotel, at their Skyview Bar.  The concoction starts with a 55 year The Macallan scotch, sweetened with passion fruit sugar, uses imported ice, and is served in a 18 karat gold tumbler.  The elixer can be yours for $7,500.
79. The most expensive brew in the world is the La Vieille Bon-Secours which roughly translates to the old good rescue in French. It does not make much sense but when your beer costs $78 per pint you can name it whatever you want.  The only bar that serves it is the Bierdrome in London.
80. We’ve heard of double-filtered vodka, triple filtered-vodka, but this Diva Vodka is diamond filtered.  Blackwood Distillers based in Scotland filter it through Nordic birch charcoal first and then through crushed up diamonds.  Finally, the vodka is bottled with a core of precious gems ranging from rubies to diamonds.  Depending on which stones you would like in your bottle, the price ranges from $4,000-$1 million.
81. Developed in Manila in the Philippines, Chef Angelito Araneta introduced the world to its most expensive raw fish dish.  he five nigiri rolls with crab meat, wrapped in 24 karat gold and studded with African diamonds.  A serving costs approximately $2,000 in U.S. dollars.
82. There are 49 million bubbles in a 750 ml bottle of champagne.
83. Vintage Champagnes are those which are aged for a minimum of three years upto ten years, and are the most expensive.
84. The official champagne of the Titanic was Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top Champagne Brut.
85. A wine can be called champagne only if it is produced in the Champagne region of France.
86. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier are the grapes used to make Champagne.
87. A good way to discriminate good champagne from bad is to see if the bubbles are rising towards the side of the flute. This is called collerette and is a sign of a good variety of champagne.
88. It is normally believed that the French invented champagne first in the seventeenth century by a monk, Dom Perignon. 
89. The experiments to make champagne by the saint, Dom Pierre Perignon, were done with the help of the house of Moet et Chandon
90. Moet bought the rights to use the name Dom Perignon from Mercier.
91.  The first champagne houses in France were Ruinart in 1729, Chanoine in 1730, Taittinger in 1734, Moet in 1743, Abele in 1757, Clicquot in 1772, and Heidsieck in 1785.
92. In early days, Champagne was called “The Devil’s Wine” because so many of the bottles exploded due to the pressure of the carbonation. The people did not understand what caused the explosions.
93. Full bottles of Champagne recovered from shipwrecks from the early 1800’s are often found to be perfectly drinkable and can command high prices at auctions.
94. $275,000 The most expensive champagne in the world costs $275,000.
    These hundred year old bottles of Champagne from the Heidsieck vineyard in Champagne took over eighty years to reach their destination. Shipped to the Russian Imperial family in 1916, a shipwreck off the coast of Finland caused this champagne to be lost at sea until divers discovered over 200 bottles in 1997.
95. The Dome Restaurant in Bankok, Thailand served up what was billed as the most expensive meal ever sold this past weekend. The six chefs who prepared this expensive meal were flown in from France, Germany and Italy. Similarly, the ingredients they used were also flown in from all over the world. As for the guest-list, it was made up of 15 people, mostly real estate and gaming moguls from Across Asia and the United States. The cost of the most expensive meal was about $30,000, not including tax and tip.
96. Serendipity 3 in New York City was known for its Golden Opulence ice cream sundae, which sets customer back a cool $1,000.
97. Civet is the rarest variety of coffee on earth, which can sell for as much as $600 a pound. Civet coffee’s outrageous price tag is due to its rarity and its unorthodox harvesting method. It comes from a coffee cherry that only grows in Southeast Asia, and the tree is inhabited by a weasel known as the Asian Palm Civet. The animal eats the cherries, digests them and then excretes the hard centers . Harvesting the undigested portion, though highly unappetizing, yields a final product that can sell for as much as $50 a cup.
98. The world's most expensive burger is the "Fleurburger 5000" featuring a juicy Kobe beef patty topped with a rich truffle sauce and served on a brioche truffle bun. And this burger comes with its own beverage, a bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus, that is served in Ichendorf Brunello stemware that you get to keep. It costs $5000, and was created by Hubert Keller. The burger can be found in Las Vegas.
99. Clawson Stilton Gold is made from premium white Stilton and shot-through with a combination of real edible gold leaf and real gold-liqueur. At £60.87 per 100g slice, or £608 a kilo, it's the world's most expensive Stilton Cheese.
100. Chef Spencer Burge of Fence Gate Inn in the U.K. created a steak-and-mushroom pie that sells for $12,500.It's made from Wagyu beef, matsutake mushrooms, black truffles and two bottles of 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, worth $6,800.
     
     
     
     
     

Information taken from

http://allyraza.blogspot.com/2007/05/art-of-fugu-cooking.html

http://www.gourmetfoodstore.com

http://listverse.com/2007/08/06/top-10-luxury-foods/

http://www.allmostexpensive.com/most-expensive-food.html

http://www.healthfiend.com/weeklytop/top-10-extravagant-expensive-foods-luxury-aliments-deluxe/

http://www.foodandbeverageunderground.com/champagne-facts.html

http://factspage.blogspot.com/2010/02/12-interesting-facts-about-champagne.html

http://www.magforwomen.com/7-interesting-facts-about-champagne-youll-love-to-know/

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36672218/ns/today-food/t/sundae-expensive-eats/#.TwWUrJjaYfE