Tag: expensive

the most expensive cheese in Italy that you would never buy – Italian Cuisine

It costs € 450 per kilo and is made in the kid's stomach (as tradition requires). Would you eat it? No, but if you knew how other cheeses are made, maybe yes

The Calle de crabettu is an ancient cheese, almost an ancestor of the cheese, an authentic example of “paleocasearia” art: the stomach of a suckling kid closed at the ends with a rope and matured with all its contents, that is the last feeding of breast milk. It is useless to make faces, it is a very rare preparation, which survived in the Sardinian tradition, and which will reveal something that you do not know about the majority of the cheeses in circulation …

The intense flavor

The consistency, on the other hand, changes according to the seasoning: at the beginning it is a spreadable cheese, then refining beyond two months it becomes compact enough to be sliced. The flavor condenses and gradually takes on a more intense color, until it reaches an ocher color, a compact, grainy paste, and a very intense, spicy flavor (and for many decidedly too much). It is eaten spread or sliced together with bread (including the sides of the stomach), or sliced, fried in lard.
It goes well with red wines like a Cannanoau, with Sardinian carasau bread and with sweet vegetable jams, which balance the taste. The shepherds of the province of Nuoro still produce it, and thanks to the distributor and refiner of Guffanti cheeses, it can be found throughout Italy and during FORME, the festival dedicated to cheese that takes place every year in Bergamo.

Rennet is animal

Sardinian shepherds also used this cheese as rennet for milk, hence the name literally in Sardinian means "kid rennet". The Calle de crabettu does not need an ingredient that is widespread in almost all the cheeses in circulation: animal rennet. To make cheese, from Parmesan to mozzarella, it is necessary to add rennet, and the rennet can be of animal, vegetable or microbial origin. The rennet of animal origin is the only one accepted today for the production of DOP cheeses, for example, and is the most used. Where do you get it from? From the abomasum, that is from the stomach of some ruminant animals, mainly calves and lambs, but also from kids and pigs. The cheese therefore if not otherwise indicated would not be suitable for a vegetarian diet, because although in minimal quantities, it contains particles of animal origin.

The ten most expensive vegetarian ingredients in the world – Italian Cuisine

If you thought that a vegetarian diet was necessarily cheaper, you did bad things. This is demonstrated by the prices of the ten most expensive vegetarian ingredients in the world

Although the vegetarian diet is now widely spread in Italy and in the world, in many people is still rooted the prejudice that it is not only an unhealthy and unbalanced diet, but that is even poor in economic and quantitative terms. Nothing could be more wrong: to prove it, in addition to the not always low costs of the raw materials purchased, even those of the ten most expensive vegetarian ingredients in the world. To draw up the ranking of these gastronomic delicacies that are also real luxury goods is one of the world's most authoritative sites in the luxury sector, namely Luxurylaunches, based in Mumbai. Let's go then to discover these expensive vegetarian foods, starting from the most expensive.

1. Yubari King, Yubari, Japan Melons – US $ 12,000 / kg (€ 10,600)

Incredible but true: in the first place we find a fruit, or the Japanese melon Yubari King. This type of melon is a cross between two types of cantaloupe and is produced exclusively in the Yubari, northern region of Japan. The Yubari King is known to be perfectly round, to have an exceptionally smooth crust and for its sweetness and its unique qualities.

2. Saffron Absheron, Absheron, Azerbaijan – US $ 11,000 / kg (9,700 €)

The saffron, oriental spice known for its innumerable and extraordinary beneficial properties, is a very precious ingredient not surprisingly nicknamed "red gold". Although the main producing country is Iran, it is in the Azerbaijan, the oldest center of the saffron market, that the most prized bulbs and the most expensive variety are found. This country is expected to earn over $ 142.6 million from saffron industrial production in 2019.

3. Red swiftlet's nest, China – US $ 10,000 / kg (8.800 €)

This vegetarian ingredient, as expensive as it is bizarre and unknown, is much appreciated in the Chinese culture and much sought after by local collectors. Also known as Caviar of the East, this nest is a sort of solidified salivary secretion of the swiftlet bird, so proteinic and rich in mineral salts as rare and valuable. To collect these nests it is in fact necessary to climb the rugged limestone cliffs of the Palawan resort, and climb up to 150 meters in height.

4. Bali Peri honey, Saricayir Dagi, Turkey – US $ 7,000 / kg (€ 6,200)

This exotic and delicious honey it is also known as "fairy honey" or "elven honey". Originally from the mountains of Saricayir Dagi, in the north-east of Turkey, it is in fact extremely rare, as it is collected and extracted from inside a cave and can not be reproduced elsewhere.

5. Alba white truffle, Piedmont, Italy – US $ 6,000 / kg (€ 5,300)

In fifth place we finally have a renowned Italian vegetarian ingredient. If the saffron is called "red gold", the name of "gold of the earth" is given to the refined truffle. The most expensive ever sold in the world is a rare Piedmontese white truffle weighing 1 kilo, beaten in an auction in Italy and bought at the amazing price of over 5,000 euros. He was the owner of a luxurious restaurant in Florida, in the United States.

6. Watermelon from Densuke, Hokkaido, Japan – US $ 5,000 / kg (4,400 €)

After the most expensive melon in the world, we find another fruit among the most expensive vegetarian goods on the planet. This time it is a particular e rare Japanese variety of watermelon from the city of Toma, coveted by connoisseurs and collectors all over the world for its unique nature. This watermelon has in fact a perfect circular shape, a very dark skin without streaks, but above all a taste that is defined as "a new level of sweetness".

7. Black truffles Perigord, Dordogne, France – US $ 2,500 / kg (€ 2,200)

The truffle, an increasingly expensive ingredient as well as king of tables all over the world and loved by chefs, triumphs also winning the seventh position. Here we find, in fact, a particular French black truffle, a rare gastronomic delight with an unmistakable aroma that, despite a relatively short shelf life, has a very high value.

8. Kopi Luwak Coffee, Indonesia – US $ 1,000 / kg (887 €)

The Indonesian Kopi Luwak is a unique type of coffee in the world, as derived from coffee beans partially digested by the coconuts of Asian palms, known locally as luwak or rattoscimmia. After the grains are ingested and fermented in their intestines, they are defecated and carefully harvested by local farmers. Since the first discovery this product has had an extraordinary success on the market, with very high prices. If you are interested in buying this unique commodity, pay attention to the many imitations, and document the great drama of the exploitation of Asian civets.

9. Cheese Pule, Macva, Serbia – US $ 1,000 / kg (887 €)

For cheese lovers and experts, the Serbian Pule is considered among the most exquisite in the world. This exotic wonder, not particularly seasoned and with a grainy consistency, is an exceptionally rare product with inevitably very high costs (almost € 1,000 per kilo and around € 100 for a taste). The pulle, in fact, is produced by milking of endangered donkeys who live in the Zasavica nature reserve. As if this were not enough, pure donkey milk is famous for being the most complex in the world to make cheese.

10. Potatoes La Bonnotte, Noirmoutier, France – US $ 600 / kg (€ 530)

At the last place we find a vegetarian food usually famous for its affordable prices, or the potatoes. In fact, this list is one rare variety called Bonnotte, cultivated only and exclusively on the French island of Noirmoutier. These potatoes are appreciated for their complex and unique flavor, which includes hints of lemon, land and sea, thanks to the soil enriched with algae in which they grow. Their difficult growth process, the small production (only 20,000 kilos a year) and the demanding hand harvesting that takes place one week a year and involving the approximately 2,500 inhabitants of the island are the other factors that justify the price so tall of these rare vegetarian gems.

Photo: vegetarian ingredients cari_zafferano_Safa Daneshvar_Wikipedia Commons.jpg
Photo: Black Truffle of Périgord Francia_Premshree Pillai_Flikr.jpg
Photo: saffron production_World Bank Photo Collection_Flickr.jpg
Photo: Soup with red nest of Switlets_Ichik Ichik Ehem.jpg

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To'ak: the most expensive dark chocolate in the world – Italian Cuisine

A real jewel arrives from Ecuador in numbered tablets, obtained from a variety of cocoa thought to be extinct

The history of cocoa is lost in the mists of time. A recent Canadian research, conducted by the University of Calgary and the University of British Columbia, has found that the earliest traces of its domestic consumption date back to 5300 years ago, in some communities settled in the highlands of Ecuador. And it is precisely from those suggestive South American lands that today arrive the prestigious products of To'ak Chocolate: a successful company in the enterprise of recovering a variety of cocoa that scholars thought extinct – the ancient Nacional, already grown over 5 thousand years ago ago – turning his beans into chocolate bars, to say the least, exclusive.

These incredibly rare plants, actually very popular until the early nineties, when they were exterminated in mass by a disease called "broom of the witch", have been found for the accuracy in the Ecuadorian province of Manabi, already known worldwide for the excellence of its cocoa crops. DNA tests have confirmed the origin and the genotype, and so the founders of To'ak – Jerry Toth and Carl Schweizer – have started to use the seeds to give life to their special dark chocolate. At the same time working to promote conservation and reproduction, working side by side with the Third Millennium Alliance foundation.

"Imagine that all the Pinot Noir vines of the planet were lost due to illness or hybridization, with the exception of very few specimens scattered in one or two valleys of Burgundy," explain Toth and Schweizer. "This is basically what happened to the cacao Nacional. Now the challenge is to convince farmers to re-seed this variety, which compared to the more modern hybrids gives much lower yields, but at the same time has no equal on the quality front ".

And this is what makes To'ak's products unique on an international level: very few plants, far from abundant crops, but at the same time excellent quality, for a cocoa with incredibly complex organoleptic characteristics. The result is a chocolate that for craftsmanship and refinement can be compared only to the finest wines and whiskeys on the market, becoming in all respects a luxury item. Every single 50 gram bar is in fact numbered and sold in a special elm wood box, inside which are all the necessary utensils for tasting, together with a guide to consciously approach the tasting of chocolate and a book with the history of the Nacional.

This goes from the El Niño tablet, made with cocoa harvested in 2016 at the end of the rainy season, with hints of mint and red fruits, up to more structured variants such as the Islay Whiskey Cask: in this case the stay of the beans for three years in barrels used for the aging of whiskey gives powerful scents of caramelized fruit and honey, with a pinch of smoke. Prices? Not exactly accessible, as is easy to imagine. It ranges from 249 euros of the most recent product, that given from the 2017 harvest, to over 320 euros of the most sought after and aged versions. Already, hundreds of euros for 50 grams of chocolate: a remarkable sacrifice, it is true, but necessary to be able to grab what is in effect the most prestigious chocolate on the planet. To be tasted without haste, piece after piece, for a moment of pure fond ecstasy.