But truffles aren’t the only ridiculously dear culinary exploits. Here’s a list of some of the most head-spinning grub on the market.

Caviar

The famously most expensive dish in the world has always been beluga caviar. It’s a type of caviar that comes from the Huso huso sturgeon. It’s a European sturgeon (over three meters long), a fish found in the salty waters of the Caspian Sea, which occasionally also swims its way into the Adriatic. The Iranian beluga caviar costs 8,300 euros per kilogram in its best Iranian version, the Privé Beluga. The prices of special Almas caviar from the albino sturgeon are also recorded at a staggering 30,000 euros per kilogram.

Bluefin tuna

Last year, Kiyoshi Kimura, known as the “Tuna King”, bought 278 kilograms of Pacific bluefin tuna at auction for his sushi restaurant in Tokyo for 2.7 million euros. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. Fishy stuff! The tuna caught in the Sea of Japan are almost three meters long, and the heaviest specimens weigh half a tonne and can reach the price of around 10,000 euros per kilogram. Unfortunately, without a dose of real tuna there is no high-end Japanese cuisine. You can get a small portion of bluefin tuna with celery puree, white radish and soy sauce for about 25 euros in Ljubljana’s sushi restaurants. Emphasis here is on the adjective small.

Yubari

Yubari King melons are considered to be the most expensive fruit in the world. Although they cost “only” about 150 euros, the start of the season at a typical Japanese food auction will see these prices sky-rocket. It’s all a matter of prestige, you see. The first fruity record dates back to 1985, when the melon was sold for 500 euros. The latest record was broken in May 2019, when two melons were sold for an incredible 41,000 euros. This golden fruit flourishes best in the town of Yubari on the island of Hokkaido near Sapporo. The Japanese like to give it to friends and relatives for the holidays. That’s the kind of fruit you wish your grandma would give you for St. Nick’s!

Saffron

As the legend goes, saffron is historically famous for its unimaginable worth, but you can find high-quality saffron online, like the famous Absheron, for a measly 9,000 euros per kilogram. The best version of this spice, which originates from Southwest Asia, is considered to be from Azerbaijan, yet it is grown in many places, including Europe. And why does it cost so much? Because you need over 100,000 flowers to produce only 1 kilogram of the stuff. The fragrant spice supposedly suppresses appetite, acts as an antidepressant and strengthens the body’s immune system. Forget about an apple a day, for that kind of money, an ounce of saffron should keep the doctor away for a decade.

Edible bird’s nests

These are among the most expensive animal products ever. One of the most unusual delicacies, which is almost impossible to get in restaurants across Europe and has a high price and a multitude of customers in Asia, is no other than the nest of a birds. Homes of various torrential baby birds which are fed by males with their saliva. They spend a little over a month doing this. The real masters are the climbers, who collect these nests at hard-to-reach rocks and cliffs three times a year. Chefs prefer to cook soup or prepare desserts from bird nests. The price of a white nest is around 5,000 euros, and a red one can exceed 9,000 euros per kilogram. One flight over the cuckoo’s nest indeed.

White truffles

Finally, we come to our favourite. There are many types of truffles, but the emperor of truffles is the white truffle from Alba. It can reach a price of more than 2000 euros per kilogram. Depending on the market and the annual produce, the price changes every year. In restaurants in Piedmont, and recently also in Slovenia and our neighbours in Istria, they use white truffle practically with every dish. From carpaccio to ice cream. In the prestigious Michelin restaurants in Piedmont, five dishes of white truffles go for a little under 100 euros. White truffle pasta in Slovenia, for example, is approx. 10 euros more expensive than pasta with black ones.

Kopi Luwak

It’s the most expensive coffee in the world, which costs around 1000 euros per kilogram. It is grown in Indonesia and some other nearby countries. Supposedly, they can produce less than a tonne of this coffee annually, and the process is quite special. Small carnivores, Asian civets, feed on coffee beans. After passing through the digestive tract, collectors collect and clean the beans from their faeces, which gives them a very special, slightly sweet taste. A cup of coffee is supposed to be available for as “little” as 20 euros. This delicious brew must be the s**it!

Densuke watermelon

Last but not least, another fruity wallet emptier. In Hokkaido, only 10,000 monochromatic black watermelons grow to weigh about 10 kilograms each year. The price of this particularly sweet fruit, is around 200 euros, but when it really comes down to it, the Japanese don’t hold back at auctions. The record price for one watermelon is 5550 euros, it almost certainly became a holiday gift and at the same time one of the most expensive snacks in the world. A kilo of this fruit costs around 500 euros. Clearly, in Slovenia, watermelons are not black, but rather different shades of green, and, more importantly, they are several times cheaper.

The largest littoral centre of the Slovenian part of Istria is Koper, but there are some wonderful locations you shouldn’t miss while visiting the Slovenian coast. If you would like to go back to the past, Piran is a place where you will find history, culture, entertainment. We took a sunset walk on the fortress walls, enjoyed a beautiful view and had fresh seafood in a local restaurant by the sea.  

Portorož

Did you know that nowadays the tourist jewel of the Slovenian coast was a spa center already in the distant 13th century when Benedictine monks offered the muds and saltwater baths to the fatigued travellers? Portorož has come a long way since then, offering today many spas, baths, wellness, saunas, fitness, and beauty facilities providing thus a perfect opportunity to relax your body and mind. Not to mention lots of nice beaches, casinòs, hotels, and nightlife. 

Salt Pans

On the next day, we visited the national park of salt pans Soline and learned about traditional salt production at the Museum of Salt-Making. Nowadays, there are only a few that keep this tradition alive for more than 700 years. This 700 years old Slovenian tradition exists only in Strunjan and Sečovlje where you can still see a traditional manual gathering of salt in salt fields, widely used in the rich Slovenian cuisine. 

Truffles

Talking about the cuisine, there’s incredibly tasty, super healthy, very expensive, and ridiculously hard to find truffles hiding in the soil of Slovenian Istria. The synonym of the luxury and fine dining were praised by the Romans for their alluring aroma and so-called aphrodisiac properties. Luckily, Slovenia is also home to these gastronomy diamonds. So, we couldn’t help ourselves but to go truffle hunting.

Truffles are impossible to cultivate, as they grow wherever they feel to and that’s why specially trained dogs are employed by professional truffle hunters who know exactly where to look. We joined one of these experts and their canine companion on a Truffle Hunting expedition in the wonderful forests of Istria. Thanks for asking: we found a white truffle! Not the size for the Guinness’ prize, but enough big for a great traditional bowl of pasta with truffles for dinner.