The Most Expensive in the World
by Gourmet Tree on Monday, 08 August 2011 at 20:36
Mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines so most people suppose this fruit fetches hefty price tags in these countries. However not any of these nations nor their neighbors set the record for the most expensive mango ever sold. The title solely belongs to Australia where a tray of 12 mangoes was bought for $50,000 by Carlo Lorenti of Clayfield Markets Fresh in October, 2010.
Australia has been holding mango auctions since 1998 to celebrate the summer harvest season and to raise funds for Life Education Queensland (a preventative drug and health education NGO) and Redkite (a support charity for children and young people with cancer). Carlo Lorenti's family, who placed the highest bid of $4200/mango, has been a fervent supporter, ergo fourth-time winner of the Brisbane Markets Mango charity auction. Many wholesalers and retailers in Brisbane market community fiercely competed and generously contributed to the fund-raising event's success.
Japan claimed to have the most valuable mangoes with its pair of mangoes called Ears of Sun, which was sold for $2000 in April 2008. Though the country has been recently interested in mango auctions, it will probably take a lot of years to surpass Australia as the mango price king. Do you wonder how these pricey mangoes taste? If you were the winning bidders, would you be able eat these extremely valuable mangoes without regret?
The Most Expensive Mango in the World
The Most Expensive Pizza in the World
Any pizza lover would go nuts to hear about "Pizza Louis XIII", a $12,000-worth pizza, inarguably the most expensive in the world! Chef Renato Viola takes his catering team to the customer's home and prepares the pizza for 72 hours. Once ready, the mouth-watering, good-for-two, 8-inch pizza will be served with extravagant champagne on limited edition service plate, glass and cutlery -all included on its hefty price tag of 8,300 euros!
Louis XIII pizza bread comes from certified organic flour and goes through long direct proofing, which allows the dough to rise, making it highly-digestible. Then it will be sprinkled with Australian pink salt from Murray Basin, famed for its finest flakes and wonderful flavor. Buffalo mozzarella, three types of caviar (oscietra, royal classic, & beluga), red prawns, palinurus elephas (or spiny lobster), and squilla mantis (shrimps) adorn the flat bread lavishly. Excellent wines such as Louiss XIII cognac of Remy Martin and Krug Clos Du Mesnil champagne complement this gastronomical pizza for a fine finish.
The young, brilliant, and master Pizza Chef Renato Viola conceived this luxurious pizza dinner. He has won many awards in Italy and around Europe for creatively combining both traditional pizza-making methods and new flavors. While ordinary diners may think of Pizza Louis XIII as a wasteful, ludicrous pizza meal, wealthy gourmets continue to be fascinated by its delicate taste and creativity.
The Most Expensive Pizza in the World
The Most Expensive Spice in the World
A pound of dried saffron, which costs more than 5,000 USD, is the world's most expensive spice. Dried saffron adds color, flavor and aroma to rice, soups and meat dishes, making it one of the prized culinary condiments in the global kitchen.
Each saffron flower contains only three stigmas, which must be separated from the rest of the flower by hand, between 50,000 to 75,000 flowers are needed to produce a pound of dried saffron. The total harvest and quality of saffron are influenced by the size of individual stigmas and the amount of style (a flower part) collected.
Cultivation and environment strongly affect the production of saffron. Current top producers of saffron are Iran, Italy, Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, and Morocco, where the climate usually ranges from winter, spring, dry summer, and autumn with very little rainfall. Afghanistan is also enticed to grow saffron, instead of opium, giving them a better alternative high-value crop.
The Most Expensive Spice in the World
