ALLOW US TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE US$25,000 TACO

Gold leaf, Kobe beef, Almas caviar, and freshly-caught langoustine are key ingredients in the “world’s most expensive taco.” Chef Juan Licerio Alcala’s creation will run you US$25,000 at Mexico’s Grand Velas Los Cabos Resort’s Frida restaurant. And so far, no one has ordered it, AFP reports.

“People are excited and a little surprised about how you can eat a taco for $25,000 (497,000 pesos) when you can find one on the street for 10 pesos,” Licerio told AFP. “Then I explain the delicacy, the technique and the harmony that they will lift from the plate, and that it’s worth it.”

Mexicans eat corn tortillas on a daily basis — the food has been a staple for centuries. Licerio’s luxury menu item starts with a 24-carat gold-flecked corn tortilla, and stuffs it with the “world’s most expensive caviar” — Iranian caviar from the albino beluga sturgeon in the Caspian Sea — and black truffle Brie cheese, among other luxury ingredients.

The taco is finished with a salsa made with Morita chilies and civet coffee (a.k.a. kopi luwak). The former are smoked red jalapeno peppers. The latter is the “most expensive coffee in the world” (see a trend?), which is controversially made from partially digested coffee cherries that have passed through the civet’s (a catlike mammal) digestive system. The whole lot is garnished with more gold leaf.

Since the item hit the menu last week, Licerio told AFP that many have shown interest in ordering it. Particularly U.S. customers who like to “push the boundaries.” To try the taco for yourself, you must pay US$12,500 up-front, and be staying in the resort’s presidential suite, AFP reports.