Larder labels more coveted than Prada

Thinking twice about the price of saffron is not an indication of refinement.

It's not the latest, wait-listed handbag in your wardrobe that counts, it's the ones in your larder - by virtue of their rarity, cost and exceptional flavours.

We hunt down the most rare, most exquisite, and most extraordinarily costly gourmet delicacies favoured by food snobs.

Almas diamond caviar

Considered to be the rarest caviar in the world, it was once hailed as the prize of tsars. Almas (which means "diamond" in Persian) is a shimmering white Beluga that is considered almost legendary by Caspian Sea fishermen. It is highly exclusive, and only three to five kilograms a year are available.

This golden caviar comes either from the eggs of an albino sturgeon or those of an Oscietre sturgeon of at least 60 years. The flavours are light and delicate, creamy and subtle.

Almas is packaged in a solid gold container and sells for $36,000 for 900g.

White truffles of Alba

These unattractive rock-like things can be more expensive than gold. Truffles are one of the rarest and most expensive foods of all time. They are actually a fungus that grows underground near the roots of certain trees. Their rarity is one reason why they are so highly prized.

The white Alba truffle is very expensive because production is limited and changes in the weather can result in lean crops. Gatherers use trained dogs and pigs to track down truffles in the woods.

The white truffles of Alba, Italy, are considered the finest in the world and are valued for their powerfully earthy yet delicate taste. They can bring $13,500 a kilo. The largest amount paid for a truffle was $71,600, when restaurateur Joe Pytka bought a white truffle known as Asta Mondial del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba. It weighed almost 1kg.

Red abalone

Abalone is one of the world's most expensive sea delicacies. This lowly mollusc is one of the highest flyers in the world of gourmet seafood. Tasmania is the world's largest supplier of wild abalone. In Japan, a large top-class abalone can command a price of $225.

Bai-cha (white tea)

This makes the Rolls-Royce of cuppas. The magnificent high-mountain China white tea, or bai-cha, was once reserved for the cups of emperors and nobility, and is still the rarest of teas. Average black wholesales for about $4.75 a kilo, but the white variety costs more. At a retail price of more than $1900 a kilo it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

In the Song dynasty, Emperor Hui Zong wrote: "White tea has the rarest and most delicate flavour and is different from all others and is the pinnacle of refinement." Today's connoisseurs say it is subtle, sweet and mellow with a lingering finish. It is said to have cancer-fighting properties.

Throughout its history, bai-cha has been praised not only for its taste, aroma and health benefits but for its appearance. It has been a much sought after rare tea for centuries. It is meticulously hand-picked in the misty mountains of China's Fujian province.

The buds are covered with silver hairs, giving the plant a whitish appearance. The tender buds are picked on only two days of the year - a method formerly reserved for the emperor's tea and referred to as "imperial plucking".

Argan oil

In the larder of food snobs, argan oil is the one to drizzle on your designer couscous.

This culinary star is a rare and expensive oil derived from the fruit of the evergreen argan tree, which is native to North Africa. For thousands of years, the Berber women of the Atlas mountain region have produced this oil, mostly by hand.

The seed kernels yield a thick amber liquid, the production of which is extremely labour-intensive. About 100kg of seeds are needed for 2kg of the exquisite oil.

Argan oil costs $60 for 250ml. Demand has expanded rapidly and upscale restaurants in New York, London and Paris often feature the nutty oil in their recipes.

Confiture De Groseilles

The world's most expensive preserve comes from the French town of Bar-Le Duc, where it is made from a 14th-century recipe. Mary Queen of Scots was said to have likened this preserve to "a ray of sunshine in a jar". Rumour has it that Alfred Hitchcock was addicted enough to go through a jar each morning and had it flown to film locations. Marie-Antoinette was a known partaker, as were Louis IV and Victor Hugo.

The redcurrants are individually divested of their seeds by women called epepineuses (seed extractors) using a finely tapered goose quill - a fact you might like to casually offer guests at the breakfast table. About 2kg, or 2000 berries, must be deseeded to produce one kilo of preserve-making fruit. That's about 16,000 seeds. The seedlessness helps gives the jam its clarity of colour, and silky texture.

Only 30,000 jars are produced a year. It costs $110 for 85g.

Iranian Sargol saffron

Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Gram for gram it is costlier than gold. Regular saffron costs $2200 a kilo but Iranian Sargol saffron, the best quality saffron, can go for double that price.

Harvested by hand from the three stigmas of the tiny crocus flower, it can take anywhere from 400,000 stigmas or between 85,000 and 250,000 flowers to yield a kilo of saffron. The labour-intensive work is reflected in the high price.

Sargol means "top of flower" and contains only the pure red stigmas of the saffron plant and thus captures essential aroma, flavour and colour.