in search of SUSTENANCE

From Chocopologie truffles to matsutake mushrooms, highly prized foods come with a following. And a price.

Almas Caviar

Deliciously creamy, Almas caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon. Unfortunately, while this particular sturgeon lives up to 80 years, it doesn’t produce eggs for the first 20. Plus, these survivors from the dinosaur era are found only in the Caspian Sea, the caviar is only prepared in Iran, and it’s only sold in London. In 24-karat gold boxes. For up to $15,000 a pound. (Big surprise that Almas means diamond in Arabic.) The waiting list to buy a tin is four years.

Bird’s Nest Soup

Yes, there really is something called “Bird’s Nest Soup.” Yes, it really is a bird’s nest. And yes, people really do eat it. Both rare and highly sought after for its medicinal and aphrodisiacal properties, the nests — found exclusively in Southeast China — are constructed from the saliva of cave swifts. No twigs. No string. Just bird spit. Once dissolved in water, the nest becomes a gelatinous soup. The Chinese have been serving this “caviar of the East” for over 400 years. Rare “red blood” nests — so named for their color — go for upwards of $5,000 a pound.

Densuke Watermelon

Maybe it’s the black skin. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s cultivated exclusively in Hokkaido, Japan. Maybe it’s because only 10,000 grow each season. Whatever the reason, a particularly large Densuke watermelon sold for over $6,000 a few years ago. Yes, it’s sweet — all 17 to 20 pounds of it. It’s also harder and a bit more crisp than American melons. Most go for the bargain-basement price of $250.

Matsutake

Another highly prized Japanese delicacy, matsutake, or pine mushrooms, primarily grow at the root of special pine trees. To add to their mystique, once picked, they never grow back in the same spot again. The mushroom is in such demand in Japan that much of the supply now comes from China, Korea, northern Europe, and the Pacific Northwest. Described as spicy and meaty, matsutake can cost up to $900 a pound. Fittingly, aficionados have crowned them “king of the mushrooms.”

White Truffles

When you can’t grow them yourself, lots of people want them, and the only way you can find them is with a trained pig, the object of affection tends to be a bit pricey. Selling for as much as $10,000 a pound, white truffles have an intense flavor and aroma prized by the world’s top chefs. (The most expensive white truffle ever sold? $330,000. Not bad for a fungus.) It’s typically found on the roots of trees in the Piedmont region of Italy.

Kobe Beef

The cattle eat grass, but only the best grass. They also drink water, but not until they’ve had a few beers — or, given their Japanese homeland, some sake. Wagyu cattle, the source for Kobe beef, are massaged by hand to achieve ideal marbling and tenderness. Which, at up to $150 a pound, means that a rib eye can cost several hundred dollars before the sautéed onions and mushrooms hit the plate.

Saffron

Saffron is possibly the world’s rarest spice. Why? First, it’s hard to get. Derived from the saffron crocus, the spice has to be handpicked from the flower’s stigma, and each blossom only produces a couple of stigmas. Second, it takes a quarter of a million stigmas to produce a pound. (Think of a football field’s worth of flowers.) The good news is that it’s produced worldwide. The bad news: a pound can set you back up to $5,000.

Chocopologie Truffles

You’ve had chocolate truffles before, but chances are you’ve never had them made with world-renowned Valrhona dark chocolate. And that’s just the top layer. To make this delicacy even more decadent, a rare French Périgord black truffle is ensconced at its center. Singles go for $250 a pop. Or you can count out 2,600 big ones and take home a whole pound. Exclusively yours from Fritz Knipschildt in South Norwalk, Connecticut. (Handmade, no preservatives, no additives, duh.)