Gourmet Food Items

The Hidden Cost of Exotic Gourmet Food Items

There are a lot of people who want to taste exotic food items. In fact, a lot of them pay enormous amounts of money just to taste some exotic gourmet food items.

What makes exotic gourmet food items expensive? The reason depends from one food item to another. Some may be expensive because they are rare and can be harvested only at certain times. Others may be expensive because of the way they are prepared. And others are expensive because everyone thinks so!

One of the kings of rare gourmet food items is the pungent tasting truffle. A truffle is an underground growing tuber that is found in certain parts of Europe. There are a variety of truffles such as the black, white, Chinese and summer truffles. They are ectomycorrhizal, which means that it grows on trees. In the case of truffles, they are found under the roots of trees.

The rarity of the truffle is the main factor why it is expensive. Truffles are rare because farming them for mass production has not always been successful. Truffle growth patterns are very erratic, and there is no truffle season.

Furthermore, they are very difficult to find since they grow underground. People who hunt for truffles usually use specially trained sows or dogs to hunt them. Truffles release a chemical that is similar to the sex pheromone found in boars. Sows are attracted to it.

Another exotic gourmet food item is the shark's fin. This is used in a delicacy called shark's fin soup that stemmed from China. As the name implies, the dish consists of skinned and dried sharks' fins that are softened and added in strips. While the soup is delicious, the shark's fins themselves are tasteless. People like them for their texture.

Shark's fin soup is expensive and exotic partly due to the means of getting them. Fishing for a shark is extremely dangerous. It is actually the risk factor that makes up part of the expensive price.

The other reason is due to environmental controversy. Many environmentalists frown on the practice of eating the delicacy because it is tantamount to animal cruelty. The sharks are harvested from the sea. Then their fins are cut. Since shark meat is not worth anything, the decapitated animals are thrown back to sea. Bereft of fins, the sharks, unable to move, slowly die or become meals for other sharks.

These are just two of exotic gourmet food items. Each place has one or more. If you visit any country, be sure to eat some and enjoy the experience.