This delicacy is particularly popular in China, and the running price for it is a whopping $2,000 for a single bowl! If the price doesn’t turn you off, the ingredients may. The main ingredient in this soup is dried bird saliva, along with pieces of an actual bird’s nest. People say this dish resembles egg drop soup, but I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I prefer the cheap alternative.
To make this expensive cheese, the maggots of cheese flies are introduced early in the cheese’s fermentation process to break down the fat. This apparently creates a distinct (and some say delicious) flavor. Some cheesemakers then leave the maggots in the cheese to create even more flavor. I never thought I’d find a cheese I don’t like, but I can safely say that I will never eat this abomination. You will need to pay a pretty penny for this dairy nightmare, as it is illegal and currently only sold on the black market.
Balut is an Asian delicacy consisting of a fertilized duck egg that is boiled and eaten in the shell. The idea of this dish is morbid because the tiny duck fetus has already developed soft bones and other features. If you buy a carton of these eggs, it will cost around $65 ... and your soul.
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If you thought soup couldn’t get any grosser than bird’s nest soup, you’re in for a real treat. Fruit bat soup is another popular, expensive ($400) soup made from furry fruit bats that are boiled alive in coconut milk. And yes, they leave the fur and skin on. I’ll take the chicken noodle, thank you.
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This beer features coffee beans that have once again been taken from the poop of an animal, but this time it is elephant dung instead of cat poop. Then the beer is fermented and sold for about $100 a glass, and I bet you can’t even get a happy hour deal on it. Am I ever going to sample it? Not even once.
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In case you aren’t aware, foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose. The version of this burger that was sold by New York's 666 Burger food truck was also topped with lobster, caviar, truffles, and a BBQ sauce made out of kopi luwak, the civet-digested coffee beans. The price of this burger ($666) was ominous enough, but it’s the medley of disgusting flavors that really get to me.
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Caviar is one of the most well-known luxury foods, and this dish consists of salt-cured fish eggs. True caviar is only made from the eggs of wild sturgeon of the Caspian and Black Seas, but there are many other varieties made from other types of fish. Caviar can cost up to $500 dollars for 50 grams, or $10 per gram. A gram is not a lot, so you’d essentially be paying $10 per bite.
Escamole is sometimes called the caviar of Mexico. This delicacy is the larvae and pupae of large black ants, and some people have said that this dish tastes similar to corn. At $75 a serving, why don’t you just eat corn?!
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Escargot is a cooked land snail, and it is highly popular in some parts of Europe. These snails are typically cooked in a garlic butter sauce, but all the garlic in the world still can’t cover up that sliminess. If you buy escargot yourself, it will cost about $100 a jar, and if you eat it in a Paris restaurant, there’s no telling how much you may end up spending.
