When you think of what the ultra-rich might eat, visions of caviar and white truffles probably come to mind. Every now and then, you hear about restaurants serving up exorbitantly high-priced dishes — a $12,000 pizza here, a $4,000 plate of curry there — and you might think, “Oh, it probably costs so much because it’s sprinkled with edible gold flakes.” In most cases, you’d be right.

But sometimes certain foods are so expensive because they are incredibly rare, in-demand and oh-so-pleasing to the palette. Only the ultra-wealthy can afford to splurge on these foods, as their prices reach absurdly high.

Here are 9 most expensive foods that only rich people can afford.

1- Ayam Cemani Black Chicken

The Indonesian dish Ayam Cemani Chicken is completely black on the interior, in addition to having feathers that are a deep shade of black. Although Cemanis are said to taste a little bit better than regular foul and develop more slowly, they aren't actually consumed for their flavor. The nobility in Japanese folklore of the 12th century were said to eat this mystical feast. Assault after good luck charm in some cultures, its charcoal-colored blood is also said to bestow prosperity and power on those who ingest it. This breed may be purchased in Indonesia for about $200, but it is worth thousands of dollars abroad. Due to the threat of avian flu, Ayem Sumani Black Chicken is seldom exported.

2- Almas Caviar

True Caviar, which is only found in the Sevruga, Ocetra, and Beluga types of sturgeon found in the Caspian and Black Seas. Often costs $20 to $50 or more per ounce, making even the most affordable variety a treat best served with champagne on rare occasions. However, Almas Caviar, a pearl like Beluga variation from Iran, is made from rare white sturgeon that can only be found in the Caspian Sea.

The pearl like eggs, which are taken from specimens older than 100 years, are reported to have an intensely nutty, creamy flavor that is best savored on toast or over rice with vodka as a finish. Only one of the few specialized Kavya house and prune new outlets in London sells Almas Caviar.

3- Birds Nest Soup.

Believe it or not, Birds Nest Soup is a major delicacy in China, costing anywhere between $2,500 and $10,000 per kilogram. These aren't any old bird nests, but the nests are swallows or swiftlets, which are made from 100% saliva. The birds build homes for their young out of their own congealed spit and the gastronomic elite. The tiny nests turn into a gelatinous glop when they are boiled in water, which is apparently ideal for soups. The difficulty of obtaining the nests in the first place can be blamed for the price of roughly $100 per bowl.

4- Densuke Black watermelon

The Japanese delicacy known as Densuke, or black watermelon, is so expensive that it is never offered for sale in shops but instead is always auctioned off. In Japanese culture, black melon is regarded as a priceless wedding gift. Since Densuke water melons require a lot of space to cultivate and can cost up to $6,000 each, only 100,000 of them are produced each year. Only 10,000 units of these unusual melons are produced annually on the northern island of Japan. In comparison to their relatives from abroad, they are believed to have crispier flesh, more juice, and an improved sweetness in addition to their intriguingly dark exterior. There's a lucrative market for decorative fruit in Japan, so it's not uncommon for Densukes to be purchased as expensive gifts. Depending on the size, they usually go for upwards of $250, but in 2008, one fine specimen even sold for $6,100.

5- La Bonnotte Potatoes

These potatoes are one of the humblest foods around, but not when it comes to the sought after La Bonnotte variety, the world's most expensive potato. These spuds are so well regarded that they're even known as the caviar of the potato world. First off, just around 20 tons are produced each year, and they are almost entirely farmed on the tiny island of Noirmattier off the coast of western France. Because they can't be machine harvested and must instead be meticulously handpicked, preparing them for sale is similarly a laborious procedure. The sea air and sea water, which serve as fertilizer for the soil, according to fans of the potato soup, give the potatoes a hint of sea salt and even a tinge of lemon.

You should probably be aware that La Bonnotte cost around $300 per pound if you're interested in buying them for tea.

6- Donkey Cheese

A cheese course is the perfect way to complete a meal, but for a banquet like this one, plain old cheddar just won't cut it. This donkey cheese, otherwise known as Puel, will cost everyone pretty much. Only Serbian farmer Slobodan Simic is able to manufacture this peculiar product. And he does so with the assistance of some 300 donkeys from the Zasovica Nature Reserve. It is praised for its alleged health advantages, including that it contains a lot of protein, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids. Only around 20 donkeys give milk at a time, and it takes many gallons of milk to make one pound of cheese, so getting milk from the donkeys is not simple. This is due to their milk's insufficient case in content, which is necessary for making curd and cheese the traditional way. Simic, fortunately, has a special way to manufacture the cheese, but it costs money. The price per kilo is roughly $1,110.

7- White truffles

These fragrant fungi are some of the world's rarest delicacies, and even the Romans couldn't get enough, attributing them with therapeutic and aphrodisiac properties. The absolute greatest truffles are white ones, sometimes known as the kitchen's jewel. Finding the knobbly, white mushrooms is difficult since they grow inches below the surface with the roots of hardwood trees and can only be picked from October through December in the woodlands of Piedmont in northern Italy. Local turds, specially trained dogs or pigs, must scour the forest floor in quest of buried treasures. White truffles have not yet been domesticated by scientists, so you shouldn't expect to find any in your neighborhoods or any time soon. The fervor surrounding truffles and the value their rich flavor may provide to risotto, pasta, and even foie gras are all brought on by these reasons. White truffles only cost about $2,000 per pound, and in 2009, a record-breaking 1.6-pound specimen was even auctioned off for a staggering $150,000.

8- Coffee Bay king Oysters

There are other varieties of this fabled food, but only one may be referred to as the coffin baking oyster, the actual king of all oysters. These wallet-busting mollusks are grown only on a farm situated within a protected peninsula and off the Australian west coast, and they cost roughly $75 per piece. Each bad guy can weigh up to £2 after being reared for six years instead of the customary 18 months, which means they can have up to 10 times more meat than their everyday cousins. They are known as the oyster steak of the ocean due to their powerful scent and sophisticated flavor.

9- Blonde d'aquitaine steak

Blonde d'aquitaine steak might be more your style if you're wealthy enough to approach Kobe beef with a bean there, done that attitude. One cut of this rare beef, which is thought to be the priciest steak in the world, would cost you roughly $3,200. The meat comes from prized free-range Blonde d'aquitaine cattle and is produced by Parisian butcher Alexandre Poulmart on his family farm in north-eastern France.

The extortionate prized ag is thanks to the technique Poulmart developed in the 1990s to treat the meat. Only four calves are killed each week, and the cattle are hand-raised and allowed to wander freely in the French countryside's woodlands and meadows. Then, each cow is humanely butchered to reduce stress and maintain a low acidity level during the procedure. The meat is then placed in a chamber, where it is forced to hibernate for 15 years while being continuously pumped with air at speeds of over 75 miles per hour and temperatures of minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit. You'll need to go to Poulmart's store in Paris to see whether it's actually worth it. The beef is only given to a select few restaurants, and Poulmart personally inspects each one before allowing it to be served.