Everyone has a bottle of vanilla extract in the cupboard, but the real deal is completely unlike the imitation stuff.
The flavor is just ridiculous. The pure extract is, at minimum, 35% alcohol and has a rich honey color. It is very expensive, but you do get what you pay for. While pure extract is all good, the best flavor comes from pure vanilla beans.
Estimated cost: $71 per pound

This pungent and revered stuff has permeated mainstream cuisine over the past decade to the point where every second-rate Italian eatery offers bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Waiters make a big deal about the whole production, as they combine the oil and vinegar together and entice you to dip your bread in it.

It costs you $500 per 3-ounce bottle.

The name oyster is used for a number of different groups of mollusks which grow for the most part in marine or brackish water (water that is saltier than fresh water but not as salty as sea water).

Matsutake (松茸) is the common name for a group of mushrooms in Japan. They have been an important part of Japanese cuisine for the last 1,000 years.

Lobsters form a large family of marine crustaceans that nets a $1.8 billion for the seafood industry every year.

Second to caviar, foie gras is one of the finest western foods available. It is the liver of ducks (foie gras de canard) or geese (fois gras d’Oie).

Fugu (ふぐ) is the Japanese word for pufferfish and is also a Japanese dish prepared from the meat of pufferfish. One pinhead of the pufferfish poison is sufficient to kill a full grown adult male human. It has become one of the most celebrated Japanese dishes.

The nests in question here are produced by a variety of Swifts, specifically Cave Swifts who produce the nest by spitting a chemical compound that hardens in the air. The nests are considered a delicacy in China and are one of the most expensive animal products consumed by humans. It is generally served as a soup but can also be used as a sweet. When combined with water, the hard nests take on a gelatinous texture. My own experience of Bird’s nest was in a pudding called Bird’s Nest and Almond soup - the nest was dissolved in almond milk which was served as a sweet soup. The nest tasted musty and had the texture of snot.

True Kobe Beef (神戸ビーフ) - raised from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu cattle - is produced only in Hyōgo Prefecture in Japan. The beef can cost up to $300 per pound.

Truffles are from the underground ascomycetes family (tubers) and are reputed for their high prices.

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, reaching prices beyond $2,000 per pound (depending on season).

Beluga Caviar is the most expensive food item in the world, costing up to $5,000 per kilogram.