world's expensive foods

clipped from money.cnn.com Civet coffee, aka kopi luwak Estimated price per pound: $110 This rare coffee has the dubious distinction of being consumed before the customer has even taken a sip. The palm civet, a cat-like animal also called a luwak, ingests fresh coffee cherries but doesn't digest the beans inside. After the beans pass through the civet's digestive system, workers collect them and wash them in spring water. Supposedly, the civet's digestive enzymes make the beans less acidic, improving the coffee's flavor. clipped from money.cnn.com Vanilla Estimated price per pound of beans: $50 and up Vanilla beans come from a tropical orchid native to Mexico; today, Madagascar and Indonesia are the largest producers. Vanilla is expensive because growing and harvesting it is so labor-intensive "Each flower is hand-pollinated, and each bean handpicked," clipped from money.cnn.com Foie gras Estimated price per pound: $50 duck or goose liver fattened by force-feeding - has been a delicacy since Roman times, clipped from money.cnn.com Rare golden tigerfish Price per pound: $714