From the rainbow-hued pearl lobsters of Indonesia and the baby eels of Spain to the giant Copper River king salmon of Alaska and Nigeria's cod stockfish, dried thousands of miles away in the cold winds of Norway, we uncovered the stories behind six of the world's most expensive kinds of seafood.
White asparagus, often referred to as "white gold," can cost three times as much as green asparagus. It's colorless, has a much thicker stalk, and is harvested mainly throughout Central Europe for just three months of the year.
- Maple trees can live up to 400 years and be tapped for syrup for decades without harming the tree
- It takes roughly 50 gallons of these drops to make one 1 gallon of 100% pure Grade A maple syrup.
- C$18 million worth of maple syrup wa
Ayam Cemani is a rare breed of chicken that is completely black, including its organs, muscles, and bones. This chicken originates in Indonesia, where many locals keep the bird as a treasured pet.
- A 1-kilogram bottle of artisanal rice syrup can reach $140.
- It's all due to sikhye: a mixture of steamed rice, hot water, and barley malt.
- Sikhye takes days — and nights — of hard work to achieve.
Rice syrup is a staple in Korean cuisine.
- At over $500 a pound, olive wagyu is one of the most expensive meats you can buy.
- There are only 2,500 heads of olive wagyu cattle on the island of Shodoshima.
- Farmer Masaki Ishii feeds his cattle waste from local olive oil groves.
Olive wagyu has been called the rarest
- Baby eels are a delicacy in Spain.
- A single kilogram can reach thousands of dollars at auction.
- To reach just 1 kilo, fishers need to catch 3,000 eels.
Angulas are the young of the European eel.
- Panela is beloved in Colombia, where it is a go-to sweetener over the more processed white sugar.
- Depending on where it is made, panela can cost up to 17,000 pesos per kilogram.
- In the US, it can cost 20 times more than white sugar.
Panela is beloved in Colombia,