Meals To Break The Bank

A gourmet food distributor can source almost any delicacy your heart desires, especially if you've decided to throw a dinner party and want to ensure all your friends are wowed by the details. Whether it's a gram of saffron you're after, a sublime vanilla pod or a kilo of truffles, you're sure to find exquisite ingredients that will make you look like the "Cook of the Year" when preparing a feast. When it comes to indulgent meals though, nothing beats these insanely over the top offerings...

One of the most expensive pizzas ever made was called the "Pizza Royale 007" and was made by a chef in order to raise money for charity - so a good cause then! The creation, which was made to be auctioned off, was topped with expensive ingredients like vintage balsamic vinegar, cognac marinated lobster and champagne soaked caviar, smoked salmon and edible 24 carat gold flakes. The 12 inch foodie feast was sold for almost R30 000 to the highest bidder!

If you happen to be in London and have some extra cash to flash, then Gordon Ramsay's white truffle pizza is worth a try, if only for the bragging rights it'll afford you. The pizza, with its fresh herbs, pancetta mushrooms, Italian onion puree and baby mozzarella, is topped with shaved white truffle which is pricey to buy per kilo. One pizza will cost you about R700 with each slice costing roughly R120.

Beluga caviar from Iran is said to be the world's most expensive, and you're likely to find a serving in a 24-karat gold tin for about R179 000. It comes from the Beluga Sturgeon and is described as soft and silky by those who have enough disposable cash to splurge on the very expensive fish eggs. Sadly, a love for this decadent food has strained the Beluga fish population, which is now considered to be endangered.

Caviar is also an ingredient in one of the world's most expensive omelettes. Created at a restaurant in New York, the Zillion Dollar Frittata as it's known, is made from a mixture of eggs, lobster and sevruga caviar, which is also one of the most costly in the world next to beluga caviar. The very dressed up omelette dish is likely to set you back by about R7000!

Some other sought after and highly priced items include things like Kopi Luwak coffee, which is made from coffee beans that are unique in flavour and harvest methods as they are passed through the digestive system of civets before being gathered. Aceto Balsamico, known as Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, is authentic, traditional artisan balsamic vinegar and the only product legally able to be described as such under Italian law. Then of course, saffron, which is so expensive because of the intensive labour it takes to harvest. And there are many more to choose from. In an age where fast food has become the norm, it's nice to know there are still truly remarkable products out there that nothing could replace and that gourmet food distributors are proud to stock.