The world’s rarest ingredients

Getty Images-On occasion we’ve all splashed out on a really good piece of well-hung meat or an exotic vegetable with a name we can barely pronounce. Sometimes new recipes demand it. But these occasional extravagances pale into insignificance compared to the rare and eye-wateringly expensive ingredients that are available…


Toshiyuki Aizawa, Newscom, RTR-The Japanese matsutake mushroom has become a much-prized fungus almost by default. Certainly the mushroom’s strong, meaty and spicy flavour is much sought after in oriental cuisine, but part of the reason for it being held in such high esteem is its rarity. Though the mushroom is found in…

 Associated Press-In 2008 a black Densuke watermelon was sold at auction in northern Japan for a record 650,000 yen (that’s about £4,000 or $6260). So how could a watermelon be worth so much? Well, the Densuke is only grown on the island of Hokkaido, and the first harvest consists of just 60 or 70 fruit. Is it worth the…

 Stringer, Italy, Newscom, RTR-Most people know that truffles are expensive, but the most prized truffle of all is the Italian white Alba, sniffed out by specially trained pigs or dogs in the countryside around the cities of Alba and Asti. In December 2007 a particularly fine example - all 1.5 kilograms of it - was…