This is the most expensive food on the planet

Sure, you can spend $25,000 on “Frozen Haute Chocolate” or $1,768 on a “Glamburger,” which are both adorned with edible gold. Or, if you truly want to eat the most expensive food on the planet (as in, more expensive than the “Frozen Haute Chocolate,” AND the “Glamburger”), you better head to the fields of Pampore, India. And make sure you bring your life’s savings.

Every year, for just one week, you can find a landscape of purple flowers in Pampore. These flowers, known as Crocus Sativa, produce the world’s most expensive food, Saffron. Each flower holds three stamens, which must be carefully removed by hand to harvest the crop. Want an ounce of Saffron? Better get to picking because it takes approximately 4,200 flowers to produce just that. The price of Saffron is not only high because of the labor costs involved in picking each and every stamen, but also due to the temperamental nature of the flower itself.

While Pampore is known for it’s high quality Saffron, which can sell for up to $10,000 a pound, most of the world’s supply comes from Iran. These flowers are extremely picky about where they choose to grow, but for that dollar amount, who can blame them? Clearly, there’s a reason they dubbed this high maintenance spice, Red Gold.

So the next time you complain about the price of Paella at your favorite local restaurant, you might want to think again, because you’re getting a taste of something that truly is hand crafted.

(Image via Shutterstock)